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ELEMENTS 

OF 

GENERAL HISTORY, 

ANCIENT AND MODERN. 

BY ALEXANDER ERASER TYTLER, F. R. S. E 

Professor of History In the University of Edinburgh. 



THE DEMISE OF KING GEORGE III., 1,820. 

BY REV. EDWARD NARES, D. D. 

Professor of Modern History iu the University of Oxford 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED, A SDCCIJfCT 

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES ; 

WITH 

ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS 

BY AN AMERICAN GENTLEMAN. 

SUPPLYING IMPORTANT OMISSIONS, BRINGING DOWN THE NARRATION 

OF EVENTS TO THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENT YEAR, 

AND CORRECTING MANY PASSAGES RELATING 

TO THE 

HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY. 

WITH AN IMPROVED 

TABLE OF CHRONOLOGy; 

A COMPARATIVE VIEW OP 

ANCIENT AND MODERN GEOGRAPHY 5 

AND 

QUESTIONS ON EACH SECTION. 

ADAPTED FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES, 
BY AN EXPERIENCED TEACHER. 



STEREOTYPED BY T. H. CARTER t CO. BOSTON. 



CONCORD, N. H. 
PRINTED BY ISAAC HILL. 

1835. 



^^,^ 



V^^fl5c. 



DISTRICT OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE, to wit .- 

District Clerk's office. 

BE IT REMEME f November, A. D. 

1,824, and in the forl^ ......,,« j^„. ^. mc muepeiiuence of the United States 

of America, ISAAC HILL, of the said District, has deposited in tJiis office 
the title of a book, the right whereof lie claims as proprietor, in the words fol- 
lowing, to wit : — 

" Elements of General History, ancient and modern. By Alexander Fra- 
5er Tytler, F. R S. E. Professor of History in the University of Edinburgh. 
With a continuation, terminating at the demise of King George HI., 1,820. 
By Rev. Edward Nares, D. D. Professor of Modern History in the Univer- 
sity of O.xford. To which are added, a succinct History of the United 
States ; with additions and alterations, by an American gentleman. Supply- 
ing important omissions, bringing down tlie narration of events to the begin- 
ning of the present year, and correcting many passages relating to the history 
of this country. With an improved Table of Chronology ; a comparative 
view of Ancient and Modern Geography ; and Questions on each section. 
Adapted for the use of Schools and Academies, by an experienced 
Teacher." 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, 
" An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, 
charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the 
times therein mentioned ;" and also an act, entitled, " An act supplementa- 
ry to an act, entitled an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing 
the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such 
copies during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits there- 
of to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other 
prints." 

WILLIAM CLAGGETT, Clerk 

of the District of JVew- Hampshire. 
A true copy of Record. 

Attest WILLLAM CLAGGETT, Clerk. 



APR 7 -^923 



PREFACE. 



THE following work contains the Outlines of a Course of Lectures oa 
General History, delivered for many years in the University of Edin- 
burgh, and received with a portion of the public approbation amply 
sufficient to compensate the labours of the author. He began to compose 
these Elements principally with the view of furnishing an aid to students 
attending his Lectures ; but soon conceived, that, by giving a little more 
amplitude to their composition, he might render the work of more general 
utility. As now given to the public, he would willingly tlatter himself 
that it may be not only serviceable to youth, in furnishing a regular plan 
for the prosecution of this important study, but useful even to those who 
have acquired a competent knowledge of general history from the peru- 
sal of the works of detached historians, and who wish to methodize that 
knowledge, or even to refresh their memory on material facts and th« 
order of events. 

In the composition of these Elements the author has endeavoured to 
unite with the detail of facts, so much of reflection as to aid the mind 
in the formation of rational vieAvs of the causes and consequences of 
events, as well as of the policy of the actors ; but he has anxiously 
guarded against that speculative refinement which has sometimes entered 
into works of this nature. Such works profess to exhibit the philosophy 
or the spirit of history, but are more adapted to display the writer's 
ingenuity as a theorist, or talents as a rhetorician, than to instruct the 
reader in the more useful knowledge of historical facts. 

As the progress of the human mind forms a capital object in the study 
of history, the state of the arts and sciences, the religion, laws, govern- 
ment, and manners of nations, are material parts, even in an elementary 
work of this nature. The history of literature is a most important arti- 
cle in this study. The author has therefore endeavoured to give to each of 
these topics its due share of attention ; and in that view they are sepa- 
rately treated, in distinct sections, at particular periods of time. 

ALEX. ERASER TYTLER. 
Edinburgh^ n^pril 1801. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



— ^i®^— 



In preparing this edition, the original text of Tytler and 
Nares has been carefully revised and corrected. Part IV., 
■which contains the History of South America, New Spain, and 
the West Indies, has been added. Tliese countries are scarcely 
noticed in former editions; but they have acquired a rank and 
importance which make their history equally important to the 
plan of this work, and equally interesting, with that of most 
countries in Europe. Additions have also been made to many 
chapters in Part III., by which the history is continued to the 
commencement of 1,824, The Questions for Examination in 
the edition of 1,823, have been corrected, and new Questions 
are added, adapted to the additions made to the text. 

The publisher lias been at considerable expense in obtaining 
these improvements, but he trusts that they make this edition 
decidedly superior to any that has been hitherto published. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Advantages arising from the Study of History, and more particularly 

from prosecuting it according to a regular Plan - - - - 11 
Plah of the course - 13 



PART FIRST 

ANCIENT HISTORY. 



Sect. I. Earliest authentic Accounts of the History of the World 17 
Sect. 2. Considerations on the Nature of the First Governments, and 

on the Laws, Customs, Arts, and Sciences of the first 

Ages . . '- 18 

Sect. 3. Of the Egyptians 20 

Sect. 4. Of the Plicenicians 22 

Sect. 5. The History of Greece ib. 

Sect. 6. Reflections on the first and rudest Periods of the Grecian 

History 23 

Sect. 7. Early period of Grecian History. Argonautic Expedition. 

Wars of Thebes and Troy 24 

Sect. 8. Establishment of the Greek Colonies ... 25 

Sect. 9. The Republic of Sparta 2G 

Sect. 10. The Republic of Athens 28 

Sect. n. Of the state of the Persian Empire, and its History down to 

the War with Greece 29 

Sect. 12. The War between Greece and Persia - - - - 31 

Sect. 13. Age of Pericles - 33 

Sect. 14. The Republic of Thebes 35 

Sect. 15. Philip of Macedon jb. 

Sect. 1(). Alexander the Great 36 

Sect. 17. Successors of Alexander ...... 3g 

Sect. 18. Fall and conquest of Greece 39 

Sect. 19. Political Reflections arising froJn the History of the States of 

Greece 40 

Sect. 20. State of the Arts in Greece -----. 41 

Sect. 21. Of the Greek Poets 43 

Sect. 22. Of the Greek Historians 45 

Sect. 23. Of the Greek Philosophers 47 

Sect. 24. The History of Rome 49 

Reflections on the Government and State of Rome under the 

Kings , . 53 

A2 



6 CONTENTS. 

-Page. 

Sect. 25. Rome under the Consuls ...... 53 

Sect. 26. The LawofVolero 56 

Sect. 27. The Decemvirate 57 

Sect. 28. Increase of popular Power 58 

Sect. 29. Conquest of Italy by the Romans ----- 59 

Sect. 30. History of Carthage 60 

Sect. 31. History of Sicily 61 

gect. 32. The Punic Wars 62 

Sect. 33. The Gracchi, and the Corruption of the Commonwealth 64 
Sect. 34. Progress of the Civil Wars. Second Triumvirate, and fall of 

the Republic - 67 

Sect. 35. Considerations on such particulars as mark the Genius and 

national Character of the Romans - . - - 70 

System of Roman Education ------ ib. 

Sect. 36. Of the Progress of Literature among the Romans - 71 

Sect. 37. State of Philosophy among the Romans - - - 75 

Sect. 38. Of the Public and Private Manners of the Romans - - 76 

Sect. 39. Of the Art of War among the Romans - - - 77 
Sect. 40. Reflections arising from a View of the Roman History during 

the Commonwealth ..-..- 79 

Sect. 41. Rome under the Emperors ------ 81 

Sect. 42. The same subject continued ----- 84 

Sect. 43. Age of the Antonines, &c. - 87 

Sect. 44. State of the Roman Empire at the time of Constantine. His 

Successors ..--.--- 90 
Sect; 45. Progress of the Christian Religion from its Institution to the 

Extinction of Paganism iu the Reign of Theodosius - 93 

Sect. 46. Extinction of the Roman Empire in the West - - 95 
Sect. 47. Of the Origin, Manners, and Character of the Gothic Nations 

before their establishment in the Roman Empire - 97 
Sect. 48. Of the Manners, Laws, and Government of the Gothic Na- 
tions after their establishment in the Roman Empire 99 
Sect. 49. Method of stwdykng Ancient History ... - 10^ 



PART SECOND. 

MODERN HISTORY. 



Sect. ]. Of Arabia and the Empire of the Saracens • - 106 

ifect. 2. Monarchy of the Fr.mks . - - - - 108 

Sect. 3. Reflections on the State of France during the Merovingian 

race of its Kings 109 

Sect. 4. Charlemagne. The new Empire of the West - - 112 

Sect. 5. Manners, Governments, and Customs of the Age of Char- 
lemagne ......--- 113 

Sect. G. Retrospective View of the Affairs of the Church before the 

Age of Charlemagne ------ 115 

Sect. 7. Empire of the West under the Successors of Charlemagne 116 
Sect. 8. Empire of the East during the Eighth and Ninth Centuries 118 
Sect. 9. Sta»e of the Church in the Eight!) and Ninth Centuries - 119 
Sec,t. 10. Of file Saracens in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries - 120 

Sect. 11. Empire of the West and" Italy in the Tenth and Eleventh 

Centuries 121 

Sect. 12. Histoty of Britain from its earliest Period down to the Nor- 
man Conquest ....... 123 

Sl#«# 13. Of iHe 6 overameat, Laws, and Manners of tbe Anglo-Saxons 127 



CONTENTS. 7 

Page. 
Sect. 14. State of Europe during the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth 

Centuries -.. igg 

Sect. 15. History of England in the Eleventh, Twelfth, and part of the 

Thirteenth Centuries 1^ 

Sect. 16. State of Germany and Italy iu the Thirteenth Century 134 

Sect. 17. The Crusades or Holy Wars 13.5 

Sect. 13. Of Chivalry and Romance 138 

Sect. 19. State of Europe in the Tliirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries 140 
Sect. 20. Revolution in Switzerland ...... 141 

Sect. 21. State of Europe continued in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and 

part of the Fifteenth Centuries .... 142 

Sect. 22. History of England in the Thirteenth Century - - 143 

Sect. 23. History of Scotland from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth 

Century 144 

Sect. 24. History of England in the Fourteenth Century - - 146 

Sect. 25. England and France in the Fifteenth Century. State of 

Manners 147 

Sect. 26. Decline and Fall of the Greek Empire - - - 149 

Sect. 27. Government and Policy of the Turkish Empire - - 150 

Sect. 28. France and Italy in the End of the Fifteenth Century 151 

Sect. 29. History of Spain in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 152 
Sect. 30. France, Spain, and Italy, in tiie End of the Fifteenth and Be- 
ginning of the Sixteenth Century .... 153 
Sect. 31. History of England from tlie Middle of the Fifteenth to the 
Beginning of the Sixteenth Century. Civil Wars of York 

and Lancaster - 154 

Sect. 32. History of Scotland from the Middle of the Fourteenth Cen- 
tury to the End of the Reign of James V. - - 1.56 
Sect. 33. Of the Ancient Constitution of the Scottish Government 159 
Sect. 34. A view of the Progress of Literature and Science in Europe 
from the Revival of Letters to the End of the Fifteenth 

Century - - - - 160 

Sect. 35. View of the Progress of Commerce in Europe before the 

Portuguese Discoveries ...... 1G3 

Sect. 36. Discoveries of the Portuguese in the Fifteenth Century, and 

their efiects on the Commerce of Europe ... 165 
Sect. 37. Germany and France in the Reigns of Charles V. and Fran- 
cis I. 167 

Sect. 38. Observations on the Constitution of the German Empire 170 

Sect. 39. Of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland, and the 

Revolution in Denmark and Sweden .... 171 

Sect. 40. Of the Reformation in England under Henry VIII. and his 

Successors ........ 174 

Sect. 41. Of the Discovery and Conquest of America by the Spaniards 175 
Sect. 42. Possessions of the other European Nations in America 177 

Sect. 43. Of the State of the Fine Arts in Europe, in the Age of Leo X. 189 
, Sect. 44. Of the Ottoman Power in the Sixteenth Century - - 162 
' Sect. 45. State of Persia, and the other Asiatic Kingdoms, in the Six- 
teenth and Seventeenth Centuries .... 183 

^ Sect. 46. History of India 184 

Sect. 47. Ancient State of India; Manners, Laws, Arts, and Sciences, 

*, and Religion, of the Hindoos 186 

Sect, 48. Of China and Japan 188 

SecU 49. Of the Antiquity of the Empire of China. State of the Arts 

and Sciences, Manners, Government, Laws - - 189 

Sect. 50. Mr. Bailly's Theory of the Origin of the Sciences among the 

« Nations of Asia 192 

Sect. 51. Reignof Philip II. of Spais. Revolution of the Netherlands, 
1 and Establishment of the Republic of Holland - 194 

Sect. 52. Of the Constitution and Government of the United Proiv-inoei It^C 
Sect. 53. Reign of Philip II. ceutinued - - - - - *97 



$ CONTENTS. 

Page, 
Sect. 54. State of France in the End of the Sixteenth Century, under 
Henry II., Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III., and 

Henry IV. - - - 197 

Sect. 55. History of England and Scotland in the Reigns of Elizabeth 

and Mary Queen of Scots 199 

Sect. 56. History of Great Britain in the Reigns of James I. and 

Charles I. 203 

Sect. 57. The Commonwealth of England 207 

Sect. 58. Reigns of Charles II. and James II. - - - - 209 

Sect. 59. On the British Constitution 211 

Sect. 60. Of the Public Revenue of Great Britain - - - 214 

Sect. 61. History of France under Lewis XIII. .... 216 
Sect. 62. Spain under Philip HI. and Philip IV. Constitution of Por- 
tugal and Spain .----... 217 
Sect. 63. Affairs of Germany from the Abdication of Charles V. to the 

Peaae of Westphalia ...... 218 

Sect. 64. France under Lewis XIV. 219 

Sect. 65. Of the Constitution of Franco under the Monarchy - 223 

Sect. 66. Of Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy, and Charles XII., 

King of Sweden 224 

Sec^. 67. A View of the Progress of Science and Literature in Europe, 
from the End of the Fifteenth to the End of the Sixteenth 
Century 227 



APPENDIX. 

THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 

Sect. 1. A General View of the History of Mankind in the Primeval 

Ages 231 

Sect. 2. Summary View of Jewish History .... 232 

Sect. 8. The Antiquity of the Scriptures 233 

Sect. 4. The Subject of the Books, and Characters of the Writers 235 

Sect. 5. Of the Antediluvian World - - . - - 240 

Sect. 6. First Age« after the Deluge - - . . - - 241 

Sect. 7. Of the Jews ib. 

Sect. 8. The History of the Hebrews during the Government of the 

Judges 244 

Sect. 9. Retrospect of the Government of tlie Hebrews . - 245 

Sect. 10. Regal Government of the Hebrews ... - 246 

Sect. 11. Re^storation of the Jews to their Liberty and Country . 249 

Sect. 12. The State of Learning and Commerce among the Jews 252 

Conclusion 253 

PART THIRD. 

MODERN HISTORY. 

Sect. 1. France, from the death of Lewis XJV., 1,715, to the Peace of 

Vienna, 1,738 257 



CONTENTS. 9 

Page, 

Sect. 2. England, from the Accession of the House of Hanover, 

1,714, to the end of the Reign of George the First, 1,727 262 

Sect. 3. Austria, (and Germany,) from the Peace of Rastadt, 1,714, 

to the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1,748 - - - 268 

Sect. 4. England, from the Accession of George H. to the Throne, 

1,727, to his death, 1,760 - ' 273 

Sect. 5. State of Europe at the Conclusion of the Peace of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, 1,748 278 

' Sect. 6. Of the Seven Yeare' War, l,7r)5— 1,762 ... 281 

Sect. 7. From the Accession of George HI., 1,760, to the Commence- 
ment of the Disputes with America, 1,764 - - - 288 

Sect. 8. Disputes between Great Britain and her American Colonies, 

1,764—1,783 291 

Sect. 9. France, from the Peace of Paris, 1,763, to the Opening of the 

Assembly of the States General, 1,789 - - - 297 

• Sect. 10. Austria, from the conclusion of the Seven Years' War, to the 

death of Maria Theresa, 1,763— 1,780 ... 307 

, Sect. 11. Reigns of Joseph H., Leopold II., &c., from 1,765 to 1^800 309 

Sect. 12. France, from the Opening of the Assembly of the States 

General, 1,789, to the deaths of the King and Queen, 1,793 316 

Sect. 13. Great Britain, from the conclusion of the American War, 

1,783, to the Peace of Amiens, 1,802 - - - - 322 
. Sect. 14. France, from the death of the King and Queen, and Over- 
throw of the Girondist or Brissotine Party, 1,793, to the 
Establishment of the Directory, 1,795 - - - 333 

Sect. 15. Franc«, from the Establishment of the Directory, 1,795, to the 

Peace of Amiens 337 

• Sect. 10. France, from the Peace of Amiens to the Treaty of Tilsit, 

1,807 347 

Sect. 17. Spain and Portugal, from 1,788 to 1,814 ... 353 
Sect. 18. France, from the Peace of Tilsit, to the Abdication of Na- 
poleon, 1,814 359 

' Sect. 19. Poland, from the Commencement of the Eighteenth Century, 

to the Treaty of Vienna, 1,815 .... 363 

A Sect. 20. Great Britain, from the Peace of Amiens, 1,802, to the death 

ofGeorge III., 1,820 - - . - . - - 309 
Sect. 21. France, from the Entrance of the Allies into Paris, March, 
1,814, to the final Evacuation of it by the Foreign Troops, 

1,818 375 

- Sect. 22. Northern States of Europe, from tlie Close of the Seven- 
teenth Century 379 

, Sect. 23. Southern States of Europe, from the Close of the Seventeenth 

Century 387 

Sect. 24. Of India, or Hindooetan 391 

State of Arts, Sciences, Religion, Laws, Government, &c. - - 398 

. Botany • - - 402 

Electricity 405 

Mineralogy and Geology - - - - - -•- - 407 

Geography .......... 409 

Discoveries and Inventions -419 

-• Religion * 420 

History, Polite Literature, Fine Arts, &c. - - 422 
Treaty of Vienna, 1,815 - - . . , .423 

'2 



19 CONTENTS. 

PART FOURTH. 

THE UNITED STATES. 

Page. 

Sect. 1. Discovery of America 424 

Sect. 2. Discoveries by the English. Settlement of Virginia. - 427 

Sect. 3. Settlement of Massachusetts, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New- 
Hampshire, Maine, Maryland, North and South Carolina, 
New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 

Georgia 431 

Sect. 4. War with France, and Conquest of Canada. Disputes witli 

Great Britain, and War of the Revolution - . - 438 
Sect. 5. Establishment of the State and National Governmeiits. Wars 

with Tripoli and the Indians, «&c. - . . >. 448 

Sect. G. War with Great Britain, &c. 451 



A Table of Chronology - . 460 

Comparative view of Ancient and Modern Geography • 499 



INTRODUCTION. 



-^^•••4«— 



1. THE value of any science is to be estimated according to its tenden- 
cy to promote improvement, either in private virtue, or in those qualities 

' which render man extensively useful in society. Some objects of pursuit 
have a secondary utility ; in furnishing rational amusement, which, re- 
lieving the mind at intervals from the fatigue of serious occupation, in- 
vigorates and prepares it for fresh exertion. It is the perfection of any 
science, to unite these advantages, to promote the advancement of public 
and private virtue, and to supply such a degree of amusement, as to super- 
sede the necessity of recurring to frivolous pursuits for the sake of relaxa- 
tion. Under this description falls the science of history. 

2. History, says Dionysius of Halicarnassus, is "philosophy teaching 
f 'by examples." The superior efficacy of example to precept is universally 

acknowledged. All the laws of morality and rules of conduct are veri- 
^ iied by experience, and are constantly submitted to its test and examina- 
tion. History, which adds to our own experience an immense treasure of 
the experience of others, furnishes innumerable proofs, by which we may 
verify all the precepts of morality and of prudence. 

3. History, beside its general advantages, has a distinct species of util- 
?4ty to different men, according to their several ranks in society, and occu- 
pations in life. 

, 4. In this country it is an indispensable duty of every man of liberal 
birth, to be acquainted, in a certain degree, with the science of politics ; 
and history is the school of politics. It opens to us the springs of human 

' affairs ; the causes of the rise, grandeur, revolutions, and fall of empires ; 
it points out the reciprocal influence of government and of national man- 

' -Tiers ; it dissipates prejudices, nourishes the love of our country, and di- 
rects to the best means of its improvement ; it illustrates equally the bless- 

, ings of political union, and the miseries of faction ; the danger, on one 
hand, of anarchy, and, on the other, the debasing influence of despotic 
power. 

5. It is necessary that the study of history should be prosecuted accord- 
ing to a regular plan ; ibr this science, more perhaps than any other, i^ 

-liable to perversion from its proper use. With some it is no better than 
au idle amusement ; with others it is the food of vanity ; with a third 

k class it fosters the prejudices of party, and leads to political bigotry. It 
is dangerous for those who, even with the best intentions, seek for histori- 

. cal knowledge, to pursue the study without a guide ; for no science has 
been so little methodized. The sources of prejudice are infinite ; and the 
luind of youth should not be left undirected amidst the erring, the partial, 

* and contradictory representations of historians. Besides the importance of 
being able to discriminate truth from falsehood, the attention ought to be 

.directed only to useful truths. Much danger arises from the perusal of 
memoirs, collections of anecdotes, &c. ; for many of those works exhibit 
the most depraved pictures, weaken our confidence in virtue, and present 

'the most unfavourable views of human nature. 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

6. There are many difficulties which attend the attempt of forming a 
proper plan of study, and giving an instructive view of general history. 
Utility is to be reconciled with amusement, prejudices are to be encoun- 
tered, variety of taste to be consulted, political opinions balanced, judg- 
ment and decision exercised on topics keenly controverted. The proposer 
of such a plan ought therefore to be possessed equally of firmness of mind 
and moderation of sentiment. In many cases he must abandon popularity 
for the calm approbation of his own conscience. Disregarding every 
partial and inferior consideration, he must direct his view solely to 
the proper end of all education, the forming of good men, and of good 
citizens. 

7. The object and general purpose of the following course, is to exhibit a 
progressive view of the state of mankind, from the earliest ages of which 
we have any authentic accounts, down to the close of the 17th century ; 
to delineate the origin of states and of empires, the great outlines of their 
history, the revolutions which they have undergone, the causes which 
have contributed to their rise and grandeur, and operated to their decline 
and extinction. For these purposes it is necessary to bestow particular 
attention on the manners of nations, their laws, the nature of their govern- 
ments, their religion, their intellectual improvements, and their progress 
in the arts and sciences. 



PLAN OF THE COURSE, 



TWO opposite methods have been followed in giving academical lectures 
on the study of history : one exhibiting a strict chronological arrano-ement 
of events, upon the plan of Turselline's Epitome ; the other, a series of dis- 
, quisitions on the various heads or titles of public law, and the doctrines of 
politics ; illustrated by examples drawn from ancient and modern history. 
Objections occur to boUi these methods : the former furnishes only a dry 
chronicle of events, which nothing connects together but the order of 
time ; the latter is insufficient for the most important purposes of history, 
the tracing of events to their causes, the detection of the springs of hu- 
man actions, the display of the progress of society, and of the rise and fall 
of states and empires ; finally, by confining history to the exemplification 
of the doctrines of politics, we lose its effect as a school of morals. 

In the following lectures we hold a middle course between these ex- 
i' tremes, and endeavour, by remedying the imperfection of each, to unite 
if possible, the advantages of both. 

While so much regard is had to chronology as is necessary for showin» 
the progress of mankind in society, and communicating just ideas of the 
state of the world in all the different ages to which authentic history ex- 
tends, we shall, in the delineation of the rise and fall of empires and their 
revolutions, pay more attention to the connexion of subjtct than that of 
lime. 

In this view we must reject the common method of arranging general 
history according to epochs, or feras. 

When the world is viewed at any period either of ancient or of modern 
. history, we generally observe one nation or empire predominant, to whom 
all the rest bear, as it were, an under part, and to whose history we find 
that the principal events in the annals of other nations may be referred 
from some natural connexion. This predominant empire or state it is pro- 
posed to exhibit to view as the principal object, whose history therefore 
is to be more fully delineated, while the rest are only incidentally touch- 
ed when they come to have a natural connexion with the principal. 

The Jfcwish history, belonging to a different department of academical 
education, enters not into the plan of these lectures ; thouo-h we often re- 
^ sort to the sacred writings for detached facts illustrative of the manners 
of aii'ient nations. See Appendix. 

In the aticient world, among the profane nations, the Greeks are the 
earliest people who make a disthiguished figure, and whose history is at 
the same time authentic. 
^ The Greeks owed their civiliaation to the Egyptians and Phoeniciann. 
The Grecian history is therefore properly introduced by a short account 
, of these nations, and of the Assyrians, their rivals, conquered at one time 
by the Egyptians, and conquerors afterwards of them in their turn. 

Rise of the independent states of Greece, and singular coHstitution of 
the two great republics of Sparta and Athens. 

The war of Greece with Persia induces a short account of ihe precedin* 
' periods of the history of that nation, the rise of the Persiaa monarchy the 
nature of its goyernment, manners, and religion. ' 

B 



14 PLAN OF THE COURSE. 

The Grecian history is pursued through all the revolutions of the na- 
tion, till Greece becomes a province of the Roman empire. 

Political reflections applicable to the history of the states of Greece. — 
Progress of the Greeks in the arts. — Of the Greek poets, — historians,— 
philosophers. 

Rome, after the conquest of Greece, becomes the leading object of at- 
tention. 

Origin of the Romans. — Nature of their government under the kings. — 
Easy substitution of the consular for the regal dignity. — Subsequent 
changes in the constitution. — Progress to a democracy. — Extension of the 
Roman arms. — Conquest of Italy. — Wars with foreign nations. 

The Funic wars open a collateral view to the history of Carthage and 
of Sicily. 

Success of the Roman arms in Asia, Macedonia, and Greece. — Opu- 
lence of the republic from her conquests, and corruption of her manners. — 
The civil wars, and ruin of the commonwealth. 

Particulars which mark the genius and national spirit of the Romans : — 
education, — lavv-s, — literary character, — art of war, — public and private 
manners. 

Rome under the emperors. — Artful policy by which the first emperors 
disguised their absolute authority. — Decline of the ambitious character 
of the Romans. — Easy submission to the loss of civil libert}'. — Tlie military 
spirit purposely abased by the emperors. — The empire divided becomes 
a languid body, without internal vigour. — The Gothic nations pour down 
Jrom the north. — Italy conquered successively by the Heruli, Ostrogoths, 
and Lombards. — Extinction of the western empire. 

The manners, genius, laws, and government of the Gothic nations, form 
an important object of inquiry, from their influence on the manners and 
policy of the modern European kingdoms. 

In the delineation of modern history the leading objects of attention are 
more various ; the scene is oftener changed : nations, which for a while 
occupy the chief attention, become for a time subordinate, and afterwards 
re-assume their rank as principal ; yet the same plan is pursued as in the 
department of ancient history : the picture is occupied only by one great 
object at a time, to wliich all the rest hold an inferior rank, and are 
taken notice of only when connected with the principal. 

Upon the fall of the western empire, the Saracens are the first who dis- 
tinguish themselves by the extension of their conquests, and the splen- 
dour of their dominion. 

While the Saracens extend their arms in the east and in Africa, a new 
empire of the west is founded by Charlemagne. — The rise and progress of 
the monarchy of the Franks. — The origin of the feudal system. — State of 
the European manners in the age of Charlemagne. — Government, arts 
and sciences, literature. 

As collateral objects of attention, we survey the remains of the Roman 
empire in the east ; the conquests and settlements of the Normans ; the 
foundation and progress of the temporal dominion of the church of Rome ; 
the conquest of Spain by the Saracens. 

The conquest of England by the Normans solicits our attention to the 
history of Britain. Retrospectivr view of the British history, from its ear- 
liest period to the end of the Anglo-Saxon government in England. — Ob- 
servations on the government, laws, and manners, of the Anglo-Saxons. 

Collateral view of the state of the continental kingdoms of Europe, 
during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries. — France under the Ca- 
petian race of monarchs. — Conquests of the Normans in Italy and Sicily. — • 
State of the northern kingdoms of Europe. The eastern empire. — Empire 
of Germany. — Disputes of supremacy between the popes and the emperors. 



PLAN OF THE COURSE. 15 

The history of Britain still the principal object of attentioa. — England 
under the kings of the Norman line, and the first princes of the Plantage- 
net branch. — The conquest of Ireland, under Henry II., introduces an an- 
ticipated progressive view of the political connexion between England 
and Ireland down to the present time. As we proceed in the delineation 
of the British history, we note particularly thos« circumstances which 
mark the growth of the English constitution. 

At this period all the kingdoms of Europe join in the crusades. — A brief 
account is given of those enterprises, — Moral and political effects of the 
crusades on the nations of Europe. — Origin of chivalry, and rise of roman- 
tic fiction. 

Short connected sketch of the state of the European nations after the 
crusades. — Rise of the house of Austria. — Decline of the feudal govern- 
ment in France. — Establishment of the Swiss republics. — Disorders in the 
popedom. — Council of Constance. 

The history of Britain resumed. — England under Henry III. and Ed- 
ward I. — The conquest of Wales. — The history of Scotland at this period 
intimately connected with that of England. — View of the Scottish history 
from Malcolm Canmore to Robert Bruce. — State of both kingdoms during 
the reigns of Edward II. and III. — The history of France connected with 
that of Britain. — France itself won by Henry V. 

The state of the east at this period affords the most interesting object of 
attention. — The progress of the Ottoman arms retarded for a while by the 
conquests of Tamerlane and of Scanderbeg. — The Turks prosecute their 
victories under Mahomet the great, to the total extinction of the Constau- 
tinopolitan empire. — The constitution and policy of the Turkish empire. 

France, in this age, emancipates herself from the feudal servitude ; and 
Spain, from the union of Arragon and Castile, and the fall of the kingdom 
of the Moors, becomes one monarchy under Ferdinand and Isabella. 

The history of Britain is resumed. — Sketch of the history of England 
down to the reign of Henry VIII. ; of Scotland, during the reigns of the 
five Jameses. — Delineation of the ancient constitution of the Scottisii gov- 
ernment. 

The end of the fifteenth century is a remarkable sera in the history of 
Europe. Learning and the sciences underwent at that time a very rapid 
improvement ; and, after ages of darkness, shone out at once with sur- 
prising lustre. — A connected view is presented of the progress of literature 
ia Europe, from its revival down to this period. — In the same age the ad- 
vancement of navigation, and the course to India by the Cape of Good 
Hope, explored by the Portuguese, aflect the commerce of all the Europe- 
an kingdoms. 

The age of Charles V. unites in one connected view the affairs of Ger- 
many, of Spain, of France, of England, and of Italy. The discovery of 
the new world, the reformation in Germany and England, and the splen- 
dour of the fine arts under the pontificate of Leo X., render this period one 
of the most interesting in the annals of mankind. 

The pacification of Europe, by the treaty of Catteau Cambresis, allows 
us for a while to turn our attention to tlie state of Asia. A sliort sketch is 
given of the modern history of Persia, and the state of the other kingdoms 
of Asia^ in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; the history of India ; 
the manners, laws, arts, and sciences, and religion of the Hindoos ; the 
history of China and Japan ; the antiquity of the Chinese empire, its 
manners, laws, government, and attainments in the arts and sciences. 

Returning to Europe, the attention is directed to the state of the conti- 
nental kingdoms in the age of Philip II. Spain, the Netherlands, France, 
and England, present a various and animated picture. 

England under Elizabeth. The progress of the reformation in Scot- 
laud. — The distracted reign of Mary, queen of Scots. — The history of 



16 f LAN OF THE COURSE. 

Britain pursued without interruption down to the revolution, and here clos- 
ed by a sketch of the progress of the English constitution, and an exam- 
ination of its nature at this period, when it became fixed and determined. 

The history of the southern continental kingdoms is brought down to 
the end of the reign of Louis XIV. ; of the northern, to the conclusion of 
the reigns of Chailes XII. of Sweden, and of Peter the great, czar of Mus- 
covy. 

We finish this view of universal history, by a survey of the state of the 
arts and sciences, and of the progress of literature in Europe, during the 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 

The chronology observed in (his View of Universal History is that of 
archbishop Usher, which is founded on the Htb%ew text of the Sacred Writ- 
ings. A short Table of Chronology is subjoined to these heads, for tht 
case of tht shident. 



PART FIRST. 
ANCIENT HISTORY. 



SECTION I. 



EARLIEST AUTHENTIC ACCOUNTS OF THE HISTORY OF 
THE WORLD. 

It is a difficult task to delineate the state of mankind in the ear- 
liest ages of the world. We want information sufficient to give us 
positive ideas on the subject; but as man advances in civilization, 
and in proportion as history becomes useful and important, its cer- 
tainty increases, and its materials are more abundant. 

Various notions have been formed with respect to the population 
of the antediluvian world and its physical appearance ; but as these 
are rather matters of theory than of fact, they scarcely fall with- 
in the province of history ; and they are of the less consequence, 
because we are certain that the state of those antediluvian ages 
could have had no material influence on the times which succeeded 
them. 

The books of Moses afford the earliest authentic history of the 
ages immediately following the deluge. 

About 150 years after that event, Nimrod (the Belus of profane 
historians) built Babylon, and 4ssur.'!built Nineveh, which became the 
capital or the Assyrian empire. 

Ninus the son of Belus, and his queen Semiramis, are said to have 
raised the empire of Assyria to a higher degree of splendour. 

From the death of Ninias the son of Ninus, down to the revolt of 
the Medes under Sardanapalus, a period of 800 years, there is a 
chasoi in the history of Assyria and Babylon. This is to be supplied 
only from conjecture. 

The earliest periods of the Egyptian history are equally uncer- 
tain with those of the Assyrian. JVIenes is supposed the first king of 
Egypt ; probably the Misraim of the Holy Scriptures, the grandson 
of Noah, or, as othere conjecture, the Oziris of Egypt, the inventor 
of arts, and the civilizer of a great part of the eastern world. 

After Menes or Oziris, Egypt appears to have been divided into 
four dynasties, Thebes, Thin, Memphis, and Tanis ; and the people 
to have attained a considerable degree of civilization: but a peiiod 
uf barbarism succeeded under the shepherd-kings, subsisting for the 
space of some centuries, down to the age of Sesostris (1650 A- C), 
who united the separate principahties into one kingdom, regulated 
its policy with admirable skill, and distinguished himself equally by 
ills foreign conquests, and by his domestic administration. 
B 2 3 



18 ANCIENT HISTORY. 



SECTION II. 

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE NATURE OF THE FIRST GOVERN- 
MENTS, AND ON THE LAWS, CUSTOMS, ARTS, AND 
SCIENCES OF THE EARLY AGES. 

§ 1 . The earliest government is the patriarchal, which subsists in 
the rudest periods otsociety. 

This has an easy progress to the monarchical. 

The first monarchies must have heen very weak, and their terri- 
tory extremely limited. The idea of security precedes that of 
conquest. In forming our notions of the extent ot the first monar- 
chies, we are deceived by tlie word king, which according to modern 
ideas, is connected with an extent of territory, and a proportional 
power. The kings in scripture are no more than the chiefs of tribes. 
There were five kings in the vale of Sodom. Joshua defeated in his 
wars thirty-one kings, and Adonizcdec threescore and ten. 

When families grew into nations, the transition from patriarchal to 
regal government, was easy; the kingly oftice, probably passed by 
descent from father to son, and the sovereign ruled his tribe or na- 
tion, as the patriarch his family, by the right of birth. 

The first ideas of conquest must have proceeded from a people in 
the state of shepherds, who, necessarily changing their pastures, 
would probably make incursions on the appropriated tenitory of 
their neighbours. Such were the Arabian or rhcenician invaders, 
who, under the name of shepherd-kings, conquered Egypt. But 
kingdoms so founded could have little aur,ation. Laws and good 
policy, essential to the stabiUty of kingdoms, are the fruit of intellec- 
tual refinement, and arise only in a state of society considerably ad- 
vanced in civilization. 

The progress from barbarism to civilization is slow, because every 
step in the progress is the result of necessity, after the experience 
of an error, or the strong feeling of a want. 

§ 2. Origin of Laws. Certain political writers have supposed 
that in the "infancy of society penal laws must have been extremely 
mild. We presume the contrary to have been rather the case, as 
the more barbarous the people, the stronger must be the bonds to 
restrain them : and history confirms the supposition in the ancient 
laws of the Jews, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Gauls. 

Among the earliest laws of all states are tliose regarding marriage ; 
for the institution of marriage is coeval with the formation of society. 
The first sovereigns of all states are said to have instituted marriage ; 
and the earliest laws provided encouragements to matrimony. 

Among the ancient nations the husband purchased his wife by 
money, or personal services. Among the Assyrians the marriageable 
women were put up at auction, and the price obtained for the more 
beautiful was nssigned as a dowry to the more homely. 

The laws of succession" are next in order to those of marriage. 
The father had the absolute power in the division of his estate. 
But primogeniture was understood to confer certain rights. 

Laws arise necessarily and imperceptibly from the condition of 
society ; and each particular law may be traced from the state of 
macnei-s, or the political emergency which gave it birth. Hence 
-RC i^rceive the intimate connexion bet\veen histoi-y and jurispru- 



ANCIENT HISTORjf. 19 

dence, and the light which they must necessarily throw upon each 
other. The laws of a country are best interpreted from its history ; 
and its uncertain history is best elucidated by its ancient laws. 

§ 3.^ Earliest Methods of authenticating Contracts. > Before the inven- 
tion of writing, contractus, testaments, sales, marriages, and the like, 
were trans-^cted in public. The Jewish and the Grecian histories fur- 
nish examples. Some barbarous nations authenticate their bargains 
by exchanging symbols or tallies. — The Peruvians accomplished most 
of the purposes of writing by knotted cords of various colours, termed 
qidpos. 1 he Mexicans communicated intelligence to a distance by 
painting. Other nations used an abridged mode of painting, or hi- 
eroglyphics. Before writing: the Egyptians used hieroglyphics for 
transmitting and'recording knbwledge) after writing, they employ- 
ed it for veiling or concealing knowledge from the vulgar. 
^ § 4. Methods for recording Historical Facts^ and publishing Laws. 
/roetry and song were the tirst vehicles of history, and the earliest 
mode of promulgating laws. The songs of the bards record a great 
deal of ancient history ; and the laws of many of the ancient nations 
were, composed in verse. 

Stones, rude and sculptured, tumuli and mounds of earth, are the 
monuments of history among a barbarous people; and columns, tri- 
umphal arches, coins, and medals, among a more refined. These 
hkewise illustrate the progress of mannei^s and of the arts. 

§ 6. Religious Institutions. Among the earliest institutions of all 
nations, are those which regard religious worship. The sentiment 
of religion is deeply rooted in the human mind. An uninstructed 
savage will infer the existence of a God, and his attributes, from the 
general order and mechanism of nature ; and even the temporary 
irregularities of nature lead to religious veneration of the unlviiowii 
power which conducts it. 

Before conceiving the idea of a Being utterly imperceptible to his 
senses, a savage would naturally seek that Being in the most striking 
objects of sense to which he owed his most apparent benefits. The 
sun, extending his beneficial influence over all nature, was among 
the earliest objects of worship. The fire presented a symbol of the 
sun. The other celestial bodies naturally attracted their share of 
veneration.* 

The symbohcal mode of writing led to many peculiarities of the 
. idolatrous worship of the ancient nations. Animals, symbolical of the 
attributes of deity, became gods themselves. The same God, repre- 
sented by different animals, was supposed to have changed himself 
into different forms. The gratitude and veneration for men lyhose 
lives had been eminently useful, joined to the belief of the soufs im- 
mortality, led to the apotheosis of heroes. Many excellent rellections 
on idolatry and polytheism are found in the book called The fVisdoin 
of Solomon. 

The priesthood was anciently exercised by the chief or monarch ; 

* It is a theory, supported by many facts, that in the beginning, all reli- 
gious truth was made known to man by direct revelation. In succeed- 
m" ages, intellectual perception was gradually clouded by the sensual 
and gross nature of man, until his mind could not contemplate Deity, but 
through the veil of His works. Thus the heavenly were perhaps, at first 
worshipped as representative of their maker, but gradually became objects 
of direct adoration, and finally every element was peopled with deities ; 
and mountains, forests, streams, and animals, were consecrated and wor- 
shipped. 



80 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

but as an empire became extensive, the monarch exercised this office 
by liis delegates ; and hence an additional source of veneration for the 
priesthood. The priests were the framers and the administrators of 
the laws. 

§ 6. Arts and Sciences of the Ancient JVations. The usefiil arts are 
the offspring of necessity ; the sciences are the fruit of ease and 
leisure. The construction of huts, of weapons of war, and of hunt- 
ing, are the earliest arts. Agriculture is not practised till the tribe 
becomes stationary, and property is defined and secured. 

The sciences arise in a cultivated society, where individuals enjoy 
that leisure which invites to study and speculation. The priests 
maintained in that condition by the monarch were the earliest cul- 
tivators of science. The Egyptian science w^as confined to the 
priests. Astronomy, which is among the earliest of the sciences, 
owed its origin probably to superstition. Medicine was among the 
early sciences. All rude nations have a pharmacy of their own, 
equal in general to their wants. Luxury, creating new and more 
complex diseases, requires a profounder knowledge of medicine, and 
of the animal economy. 



SECTION ni. 

OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

1 . A GREAT portion of the knowledge and attainments of the ancient 
nations, and by consequence of those of the moderns, is to be traced to 
Egypti The Egyptians instructed the Greeks ; the Greeks perform- 
ed the same office to the Romans ; and the latter have transmitted 
much of that knowledge to the world, of which we are in possession 
at this day.* 

2. The antiquity of this empire, though we give no credit to the 
chrotiicles of Manetho, must be allowed to be very great. The Mo- 
saic writings represent Egypt, about 430 years after the flood, as a 
flourishing and well regulated kingdom. The nature of the country 
itself affords a presumption of the great antiquity of the empire, and 
its early civilization. From the fertilizing effects of the wafers of 
the Nile, it is probable that agriculture w ould be more early prac- 
tised there, than in regions less favoured by nature. T'he periodical 
inundations of the Nile are perhaps owing to the vapours of the 
Mediterranean condensed on the mountains of Ethiopia. 

3. The government of Egypt was a hereditary monarchy. The 
powers of the monarch were limited by constitutional laws ; yet in 
many respects his authoi'ity was extremely despotical. The func- 
tions of the sovereign were partly civil and partly religious. — The 
king had the chief regulation of all that regarded the worship of the 
gods ; and the priests, considered as his deputies, filled all the of- 
fices of state. They were both the legislators and the civil judges ; 
they imposed and levied the taxes, and regulated weights and meas- 
ures. The great national tribunal was composed of thirty judges, 
chosen from the three principal departments of the empire. The 
administi'ation of justice was defrayed by the sovereign, and, as par- 
ties were their own advocates, was no burden upofl the people. 
The penal laws of Egypt were uncommonly severe. Female chas- 

* For the supposed origin of Egyptian science, see Part II. Sect. 50. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 21 

tity was most rigidly protected. Funeral rites were not conferred 
till after a scrutiny into the life of the deceased, and by a judicial 
decree approving his character. The characters even of the sove- 
reigns were subjected to this inquiry. 

There was an extraordinary regulation in Egypt regarding the 
borrowing of money. The borrower gave in pledge the body of 
})is father, and it was deprived of funeral rites if he failed to re- 
deem it. 

Population was encouraged by law ; and every man was bound to 
maintain and educate the children born to him of his slaves. 

4. The manners of the Egyptians were very early formed. They 
bad a singular attachment to ancient usages ; a dislike to innovation; 
a jealousy and abhorrence of strangers. 

5. They preceded most of the ancient nations in the.knowledge 
of the useful arts, and in the cultivation of the sciences. Architecture 
was early brought to great perfection. Their buildings, the pyra- 
mids, obelisks, &.c., have, from the mildness of the climate, suiiered 
little injury from time. Pliny describes the contrivance for trans- 
porting the obelisks. The whole country abounds with the remains 
of ancient magnificence. Thebes, in Upper Egypt, was one of the 
most splendid cities in the world. 

The pyramids are supposed by somie writers to have been erected 
about 900 years A. C. They were probably the sepulchral monu- 
ments of the sovereigns. The Egyptians believed that death did 
not separate the soul from the body ; and hence their extreme care 
to preserve the body entire, by embalming, concealing it in caves and 
catacombs, and guarding it by such stupendous structures. Mr. 
Bruce supposes the pyramids to be rocks hewn into a pyramid;il 
form, and encrusted, where necessary, with mason-work.* 

The remains of art in Egypt, though venerable for their great an- 
tiquity, are extremely deficient in beauty and elegance. The Egyp- 
tians, were ignorant of the construction of an arch. The remains of 
painting and sculpture evince but a slender proficiency in those arts. 

6. The Egyptians possessed considerable knowledge of geometry, 
mechanics, and astronomy. They had divided the zodiac into twelve 
signs ; they calculated eclipses ; and seem to have had an idea of 
the motion of the earth. 

7. The morality taught by the priests was pure and refined; 
but it had little influence on the manners of the people. 

8. So likewise the theology and secret doctrines of the priests 
were rational and sublime ; but the worship of the people was de- 
based by the most absurd and contemptible superstition. 

9. Notwithstanding the early civilization and the great attainments 
of this people, their national character was extremely low and des- 
picable among the contemporary nations of antiquity. The reason 
of this is, they were a people who chose to sequester themselves 
from the rest of mankind ; they were not known to other nations by 
their conquests ; they had little connexion with them by commerce ; 
and they had an antipathy to the persons and manners of strangers. 

10. There were likewise many circumstances of their own man- 
ners which tended to degrade them in the opinion of other nations. 
All professions were hereditary in Egypt, and the rank of each was 
scrupulously settled; the objects of the religious worship wejre dif- 
ferent in different parts of the kingdom, a fertile source of division 

* Recent travellers have almost demonstrated this supposition. 



22 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

and controversy ; their peculiar superstitions were of the most ab» 
surd and debasing nature ; and the manners of the people were ex- 
tremely loose and profligate. 



SECTION IV. 

OF THE PH(ENICIANS, 

1. The Phoenicians were among the most early civilized nations 
of the east. We are indebted to them for the invention of writing, 
and for the first attempts at commeicial navigurif n. The fragments 
of Sanchoniatho are the most ancient monuments of writing after 
the books of Moses. Sanchoniatho v.as contemporary with Joshua, 
about 1440 A. C. and 500 before the cities of Attica were united by 
Theseus. 

2. The Phoenicians, (the Canaanites of scripture), were a com- 
mercial people in the days of Abraham. In the time of the Hebrew 
judges they had begun to colonize. Their first settlements were 
Cyprus and Rhodes ; thence they passed into Greece, Sicily, Sardinia, 
and Spain ; and formed establishments likewise on the western coast 
of Africa. The Sidonians carried on an extensive commerce at tlie 
time of the Trojan war. 



SECTION V. 

THE HISTORY OF GRElTCE. 

1. Greece being indebted for the first rudiments of civilization to 
the Egyptians and Phoenicians, its history is properly introduced by 
an account of those more ancient nations. 

2. The early antiquities of this country are disguised by fable ; 
but from the time when it becomes important, it has been treated of 
by eminent writers. 

3. The ancient inhabitants of Greece, the Pelasgi, Hiantes, Lele- 
ges, were extremely barbarous ; but a aawning of civilization arose 
under the Titans, a Phoenician or Egyptian colony, who settled in 
the country about the time of Moses. The Titans gave the Greeks 
the first ideas of religion, and introduced the worship of their own 
gods, Saturn, Jupiter, Ceres, &c. Succeeding ages confounded those 
Titans themselves with the gods, and hence sprung numberless fables. 

4. Inachus, the last of the Titans, founded the kingdom of Argos, 
1 856 A. C. ; and Egialtes, one of his sons, the kingdom of Sicyon. 

5. In the following century happened the deluge of Ogyges, 1796 
A. C. Then followed a period of barbarism for above 200 years. 

6. Cecrops, the leader of another colony from Egypt, landed in 
Attica, 1582 A. C. ; and, connecting himself with the last king, suc- 
ceeded, on his death, to the sovereignty. He built twelve cities, 
and was eminent, both as a lawgiver and politician. 

7. The Grecian history derives some authenticity at this period 
from the Chronicle of Paros, preserved among the Arundelian mar- 
bles at Oxtbrd. The authority of this chronicle has been questioned 
of late, and many arguments adduced presumptive of its being a 
forgery ; but, on a review of the whole controversy, we judge the ar- 
guments for its authenticity to preponderate. It fixes the dates of the 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 23 

most remarkable events in the history of Greece, from the time of 
Cecrops down to the age of Alexander the great. 

8. Cranaus succeeded Cecrops, in whose time happened two re- 
■ • markable events recorded in the Chronicle of Paros : the judgment 

of the areopagus between Mars and Neptune, two princes of Thessa- 
T ly ; and the deluge of Deucalion. The court of areopagus, at Athens, 
%vas instituted by Cecrops. The number of its judges varied at differ- 
ent periods, from nine totifty-one. The deluge of Deucalion, magni- 
fied and disguised by the poets, was probably only a partial inundatfon. 

9. Ampliyction, the contemporary of Cranaus, if the founder of 
the amphyctionic council, must have possessed extensive views of 
policy. This council, from a league of twelve cities, became a 
representative assembly of the states of Greece, and had the most 
admirable political effects in uniting the nation, and giving it a com- 

* mon interest. 

10. Cadmus, about 1619, A. C, introduced alphabetic writing into 
Grreece, from Phoenicia. The alphabet then had only sixteen letters ; 
and the mode of writing (termed boustrophcdon)^ was alternately from 
right to left and left to right. From this period the Greeks made 
rapid advances in civilizaflon. 

SECTION VI. 

REFLECTIONS ON THE FIRST AND RUDEST PERIODS OF 
THE GRECIAN HISTORY. 

1. The country of Greece presents a large, irregular peninsula, 
intersected by many chains of mountains, separating its different 
districts, and opposing natural impediments to general intercourse, 
and therefore to rapid civilization. The extreme barbarism of the 
Pelasgi, who are said to have been cannibals, and ignorant of the 
use of fire, has its parallel in modern barbarous nations. There 
were many circumstances that retarded the progress of the Greeks 
to refinement. The introduction of a national religion was best tit- 
ted to remove those obstacles. Receiving this new system of theolo- 
gy iTom strangers, and entertaining at first very confused ideas of it, 

' they would naturally blend its doctrines and worship with the notions 
of religion which they formerly possessed ; and hence we observe 
only partial coincidences of the Grecian with the Egyptian and 
Phoenician mythologies. It has been a vain and wearisome labour of 
modern mythological writers, to attempt to trace all the fables of anti- 
quity, and the \-arious systems of pagan theology, up to one common 

..source. The difficulty of this is best shown, by comparing the differ- 
ent and most contradictory solutions of the same fable given by differ- 
ent mythologists ; as, for example, lord Bacon and the abbe Banier. 
Some authors, with much indiscretion, have attempted to deduce all 
the Pagan mythologies from the holy scriptures. Such researches 
are unprofitable, sometimes mischievous. 

2. Superstition, in the eai'ly periods, was a predominant charac- 
teristic of the Greeks. To this age, and to this character of the 
people, we refer the origin of the Grecian oracles, and the institu- 
tion of the public games in honour of the gods. 

The desire of penetrating into futurity, and the superstition com- 
mon to rude nations, gave rise to the oracles of Delphi, Dodona, &.c. 

The resort of strangers to these oracles on particular occasions, 
led to the celebration of a festival, and to public games. 



24 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

The four solemn games of the Greeks, particularly termed iepot^ 
were the Olympic, the Pythian, the Nemean, and the Isthmian. 
They consisted principally in contests of skill in all the athletic ex- 
ercises, and the prizes were chiefly honorary marks of distinction. 
Archbishop Potter, in his Archcebgia Grmca^ fully details their par- 
ticular nature. These games had excellent political effects, in pro- 
moting national union, in diffusing the love of glory, and training the 
youth to martial exercises. They cherished at once a heroical and 
superstitious spirit, which led to the formation of extraordinary and 
hazardous enterprises. 



SECTION vn. 

EARLY PERIOD OF THE GRECIAN HISTORY. THE ARGO- 
NAUTIC EXPEDITION. WARS OF THEBES AND OF TROY. 

1 . The history of Greece, for a period of 300 years preceding 
the Trojan war, is intermixed with fables ; but contains, at the same 
time, many facts entitled to credit, as authentic. Erectheus, or Erich- 
thonius, either a Gi-eek who had visited Egypt, or the leader of a 
new Egyptian colony, cultivated the plains of Eleusis, and instituted 
the Eleusinian mysteries, in imitation of the Egyptian games of Isis. 
These mysteries were of a rehgious and moral nature, conveying the 
doctrines of the unity of God, the immortality of the soul, and a 
future state of reward and punishment. . Cicero speaks of them 
with high encomium. But the ceremonies connected with them 
seem to be cbildisli and ridiculous. . 

2. Theseus laid the foundation of the grandeur of Attica^ by unit- 
ing its twelve cities, and giving them a common constitution, 1267 

A. \y' 

3. The first great enterprise of the Greeks was the Argonautic 
expedition, 1263 A. C. (Usher), and 937 A. C. (sir I. Newton). 
This is supposed to have been both a military and a mercantile ad- 
venture, and was singularly,^old for the times in which it was under- 
taken. The object was, to open the commerce of the Euxine sea, 
and to secure some establishments on its coasts. The astronomer 
Chiron directed the plan of the voyage, and formed, for the use of 
the mariners, a scheme of the constellations, fixing with accuracy 
the solstitial and equinoctial points. Sir Isaac Newton has founded 
his emendation of the ancient chronology on a calculation of the 
regular procession of the equinoxes from this period to the present, 
as well as on an estimate of the medium length of human genera- 
tions. 

4. The state of the military art at this time in Greece may be 
estimated from an account of the sieges of Thebes and Troy. 

In these enterprises the arts of attack and defence were very rude 
and imperfect. The siege was entirely of the nature of blockade, and 
therefore necessarily oflong duration. A dispute for the divided 
sovereignty of Thebes bettveen the brothers Eteocles and Polynices, 
gave rise to the war, which was terminated by single combat, in 
which both were killed. 

5. The sons of the commanders slain in tliis war renewed the 
quarrel of their fathers, and occasioned the war of the Epigonm^ a 
subject on wliich Homer is said to have written a poem, now lost, 
equal to the Iliad and Odyssey. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 25 

6. Tl\e detail of the war of Troy rests chiefly on the authority 
of Homer, and ought not, in spite of modern scej>ticism, to be refus- 
ed, in its principal facts, the credit of a true history.' After a block- 
ade of ten years Troy was taken, either by storm or surprise, 1184 
A. C, and being set on tire in the night, was burnt to the ground ; 
not a vestige of its ruins existing at the present day. The empire fell 
from that moment. The Greeks settled a colony near the spot, and 
the rest of the kingdom was occupied by the Lydians. 

7. Military expeditions at this time were carried on only in the 
spring and summer. In a tedious siege the winter was a season of 
armistice. The science of military tactics was then utterly unknown, 
every battle being a multitude of single combats. The soldier had 
no pay but his share of the booty, divided by the chiefs. The 
weapons of war were the sword, the bow, the javelin, the club, the 
hatchet, and the sling. A helmet of brass, an enormous shield, a 
cuirass, and buskins, were the weapons of defence. 



SECTION VIII. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GREEK COLONIES. 

1. About eighty years after the taking of Troy, began the war of 
the Heraclidae. Hercules, the son of Amphitryon, sovereign of 
Mycenas, was banished from his country with all his family, while 
the crown was possessed by a usurper. His descendants, after the 
period of a century, returned to Peloponnesus, and subduing all 
their enemies, took possession of the states of Mycenae, Argos, and 
Lacedaemon. 

2. A long period of civil war and bloodshed succeeded, and Greece, 
divided among a number of petty tyrants, suffered equally the mis- 
eries of oppression and anarchy, 

Codrus, king of Athens, showed a singular example of patriotism, 
in devoting himself to death for his country; yet the Athenians, 
weary of monarchy, determined to make the experiment of a popu- 
lar constitution. Medon, the son of Codrus^ was elected chief magis- 
trate, with the title of archon, This is the comniencement of the 
Athenian republic, about 1068 A, C. 

3. It was at this time that the Greeks began to colonize. The 
oppression which they suffered at home forced many of them to 
abandon their country, and seek refuge in other lands. A large body 
of iEolians from Peloponnesus founded twelve cities in the Lesser 
Asia, of which Smyrna was the most considerable. A troop of 
Ionian exiles built Ephesus, Colophon, Clazomene, and other towns ; 
giving to their new settlements the name of their native country, 
Ionia. The Dorians sent off colonies to Italy and Sicily, founding, in 
the former, Tarentum and Locri, and in the latter, Syracuse <md 
Arigentum. The mother country considered its colonies as eman- 
cipated children. These speedily attained to eminence and splen- 
dour, rivalling and surpassing their parent states : and the example 
of their prosperity, which was attributed to the freedom of their 
governments^ incited the states of Greece, oppressed by a number of 
petty despots, to put an end to the regal 'government, and try the 
experiment ol^ a popular constitution. Athens and Thebes gave the 
first examples, which were soon followed by all the rest 

4. These infant republics demanded new laws ; and it was nece»« 



ft« ANCIENT HISTORY. 

sary that some enlighteaed citizen should arise, who had discermnent 
to perceive what system of legislation was most adapted to the char- 
acter of his native state ; who had abilities to compile such a system, 
and sufficient authority with his countrymen to recommend and en- 
force it. Such men were the Spartan Lycurgus and the Athenian 
Solon. 

SECTION IX. 

THE REPUBLIC OF SPARTA. 

1. The origin of this political system has given rise to much inge- 
nious disquisition among the moderns, and affords a remarkable in- 
stance of the passion for systematizing. It is a prevailing propensity 
with modern philosophers to reduce every thing to general princi- 
ples. Man, say they, is always the same animal, and, when placed 
m similar situations, will always exhibit a similar appearance. His 
manners, his improvements, the government and laws under which 
he lives, arise necessarily from the situation in which we find him ; 
and all is the result of a few general laws of nature, which operate 
universally on the human species. But in the ardour of this passion 
for generalizing, these philosophers often forget, that it is the knowl- 
edge of facts which can alone lead to the discovery of general laws: 
a knowledge not limited to the history of a single age or nation, but 
extended to that of the whole species in every age and climate. 
Antecedently to such knowledge, all historical system is mere ro- 
mance. 

2. Of this nature is a late theory of the constitution of Sparta, first 
started by Mr. Browne, in his Essay on Civil Liberty ; and from him 
adopted by later writers. It thus accounts for the origin of the Spar- 
tan constitution.* " The army of the Heraclidae, when they came to 
recover the dominion of their ancestors, was composed of Dorians 
from Thessaly, the most barbarous of all the Greek tribes. The 
Achaeans, the ancient inhabitants of Laconia, were compelled to seek 
new habitations, while the barbarians of Thessaly took possession of 
their country. Of all the nations which are the subject of historical 
record, this people bore the nearest resemblance to the rude Ameri- 
cans. An American tribe where a chief presides, where the council 
of the aged deliberate, and the assembly of the people gives their 
voice, is on the eve of such a political establishment as the Spartan 
constitution." The Dorians or ThessaUans settled in Lacedaemon, 
manifested, it is said, the same manners with all other nations in a 
barbarous state. Lycurgus did no more than arrest them in that state, 
by forming their usages into laws. He checked them at once in the 
first stage of their improvement. " He put forth a bold hand to that 
spring which is in society, and stopt its motion." 

3. This theory, however ingenious, is confuted by facts. All an- 
cient authors agree, that Lycurgus operated a total change on the 
Spartan manners, and on the constitution of his country ; while the 
moderns have discovered that he made no change on either. The 
most striking features of the manners and constitution of Sparta had 
not the smallest resemblance to those of any rude nations with which 
we are acquainted. The communion of slaves and of many other 
species of property, the right of the state in the children of all the 

* Logan's Philosophy of History, &c. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 27 

citizens, their common education, the public tables, the equal divi- 
sion of lands, the oath of government between the kings and people, 
have no parallel in the history of any barbarous nation. 

4. The real history of Sparta and its constitution is therefore not 
to be found in modern theory, but in the writings of the Greek his- 
torians, and these are our sole authorities worthy ojf credit. 

After the return of the Heraclidae, Sparta was divided between 
the two sons of Aristodemus, Eurysthenes, and Procles, who jointly 
reigned ; and this double monarchy, transmitted to the descendants 
of each, continued in the separate branches for near 900 years. A 
radical principle of disunion, and consequent anarchy, made the want 
of constitutional laws be severely felt. Lycurgus, brother of Foly- 
dectes, one of the kings of Sparta, a man distinguished alike by his 
abilities and virtues, was invested, by the concurring voice of the 
sovereigns and people, with the important duty of reforming and new- 
modelling the constitution of his country 5-884 A. C. „. 

5. Lycurgus instituted a senate, elective, of twenty-eight mem- 
bers ; whose oitice was to preserve a just balance between the pow- 
er of the kings and that of the people. Nothing could come before 
the assembly of the people which had not received tie previous con- 
sent of the senate ; and, on the other hand, no judgment of the sen- 
ate was effectual without the sanction of the people. The kings pre- 
sided in the senate ; they were the generals of the republic : but 
they could plan no enterprise without the consent of a council of the 
citizens. 

6. Lycurgus bent his attentiommost particularly to the regulation 
of manners ; and one great principle pervaded his whole system : 
Luxury is the bane of society. 

He divided the ferritory ot the republic into 39,000 equal portions, 
among the whole of its free citizens. 

He substituted iron money for gold and silver, prohibited the prac- 
tice of commerce, abolished all useless arts, and allowed even those 
necessary to ufe to be practised only by the slaves. 

The whole citizens made their principal repast at the public ta- 
bles. The meals were coarse and parsimonious ; the conversation 
was titted to improve the youth in virtue, and cultivate the patriotic 
spirit. 

The Spartan education rejected all embellishments of the under- 
standing. ,It nourished only the severer virtues. It taught the du- 
ties of religion, obedience to the laws, respect for parents, reverence 
for old age, intiexible honour, undaunted courage, contempt of dan- 
ger and of death ; above all, the love of glory and of their country. 

7. But the general excellence of the institutions of Lycurgus was 
impaired' by many blemishes. The manners of the Lacedaemonian 
women were shamefully loose. They frequented the baths, and 
fought naked in the palaestra promiscuously with the men. Theft 
was a part of Spartan education. The youth were taught to subdue 
the feelings of humanity ; the slaves were treated with the most bar- 
barous rigour, and often massacred for sport. : The institutions of 
Lycurgus had no other end than to form a nation of soldiers. 

8. A faulty part of the constitution of Sparta was the office of the 
ephori : magistrates elected by the people, whose power, though in 
some respects subordinate, was in others paramount to that of the 
kings and senate. 



28 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

SECTION X. 
THE REPUBLIC OF ATHENS. 

.1. On the abolition of the regal office at Athens, the change^ of 
.the constitution was more nominal than real. The archonship was, 
during three centuries, a perpetual and hereditary magistracy. In 
754 A. C. this office became decenniid. In 648 the archons were 
annually elected, and were nine in number, with equal authority.^ 
Under all these changes the slate was convulsed, and the condition oi' 
the paeple miserable. 

2/ Draco,€levated to the archonship 624 A. C, projected a reform 
in the constitution of his country, and thought to repress disoi'ders by 
tlie extreme severity of penal laws. But his talents were unequal 
to the task he had undertaken. 

3. Solon, an illustrious Athenian, of the race of Codrus, attained 
the dignity of archon 594 A. C, and vvas entrusted with the care of 
fraining for his country a new form of government, and a new sys- 
tem of laws. He possessed extensive knowledge, but wmited that 
intrepidity of mind which is necessary to the character ol' a great 
statesman. His disposition was mild and temporizing j^ and, without 
attempting to reform the manner's of his countiymen, he accommo- 
daled his system to their prevaihng habits and passions. 

4. The people claimed the sovereign pouer, and they received 
it ; the rich demanded olhces and dignities : the system of Solon 
accomr^i^dated them to the utmost of tiieir wishes. He divided the 
cii,izeus4nto four classes, according to the measure of Uieir wealth. 
To the three first, the richer citizens, belonged all the otlices of the 
commonwealth. The fourth, the poorer chiss, more numerous thaa 

ill the other three, had an equal right of suflrage with them in the 
;>ubi!C assembly, where all laws Avere framed, and measures of state 
decreed. Consequently the weight of the latter decided every ques- 
tion. 

5. To regulate in some dc^ee the proceedings of those assem- 
blies, and balance the v/eighf^f the popular interest, Solon instituted 
a senate of 100 members (afterwards enlarged to 500 and 600), 
with whom it was necessary that every measure should originate, 
before it became the subject of discussion in the assembly of the 
people. 

6. To the court of areopagus he committed the guardianship of 
the laws, and the power of enforcing them; with the supreme 
administration of justice. To this tribunal belonged likewise tite 
custody of the treasures of the slate, the care of religion, and a 
tutorial power over, all the youth of the republic. The number of 
its judges was various at difli'erent periods, and the most immaculate 
purity of character was essential to that high office. 

7. The autliority of the senate and areopagus imposed some check 
on the popular assemblies; but as these possessed the ultimate right 
of decision, it was always in the power of ambitious demagogues to 
sway them to the worst of purposes. Continual factions divided the 
people, and corruption pervaded every department of the state. 
The public measures, the result of the interested schemes of indi- 
viduals, were often equally absurd as they were profligate. Athens 
often saw her best patriots, the wisest and most vii'tuousof her citi- 
zens, shamefully sacrificed to the most depraved and most abandoned. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 29 

8. The particular laws of the Athenian state are more deserving of 
encomium than its form of government. The laws relating to debt- 
ors were mild and equitable, as were those which regulated the 
treatment of slaves. But the vassalage of women, or their abso- 
lute subjection to the control of their nearest relations, api)roached 
too near to a state of servitude. The proposer of a law found on 
experience impolitic was liable to punishment; an enactment ap- 
parently rigorous, but probably necessary in a popular government. 

9. One most iniquitous and absurd peculiarity of the Athenian, and 
some other governments of Greece, was the practice of the ostra- 
cism,, a ballot of all the citizens, in which each wrote down the name 
of the person in his opinion most obnoxious to censure ; and he who 
was thus marked out by the greatest number of voices, though un- 
impeached of any crime, was banished for ten years from his coun- 
try. } This barbarous and disgraceful institution,'ever capable of the 
grossest abuse, and generally subservient to the worst of purposes, 
has stained the character of Athens with many tiagrant instances 
of public ingratitude. 

10. The manners of the Athenians formed the most striking con- 
trast to those of the Lacedaemonians./ At Athens the arts were ia 
the highest esteem. The Lacedaemonians despised the arts, and all 
who cultivated them. At Athens peace was the natural state of the 
republic, and the retined enjoyment ot life the aim of all its subject.--. 
Sparta was entirely a military establishment ; and her subjects, whea 
unengaged in war, were totally unoccupied.* Luxury w;is the char- 
acter ot the Athenian, as frugality of the Spartan. They were 
equally jealous of their liberty, and equally brave in war. The 
courage of the Spartans sprang fi|oni constitutional terocity, that of 
the Athenian from the principle of honour. 

11. The Spartan government had acquired solidity, while all the 
rest of Greece was torn by domestic dissensioa*. Athens, a prey to 
faction and civil disorder, surrendered hei- liberties to Pisistratus, 5oO 
A. C. ; who, alter various turns of fortune, established himself tirm- 
ly in the sovereignty, exercised a splendid and munificent dominion, 
completely gained the adections of the people, and transmitted a 
pcaceable^crown to his sons Hippias ami llipparchus. 

12. HeFmcdias and Aristogiton. undertook to restore the democra- 
cy ; and succeeded in the atteilipt. Hipparchus was put to death ; 
and Hippias, dethroned, solicited a Ibreign aid to replace him in the 
sovereignty. Darius, the son of llystaspes. meditated at this time 
the conquest of Greece. Hippi;is took advantage of the views of 
an enemy against his native country, and Greece was now involved 
in a war with Persia. 



SECTION XI. 

OF THE STATE OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE, AND ITS HISTORY 
DOWN TO THE WAR WITH GREECE. 

1 . Thk tirst empire of the Assyrians ended under Sardanapalus, and 
three monarchies arose upon its ruins, Nineveh, Babylon, and the 
kingdom of the Medes. '• 

2. The history of Babylon and of Nineveh is very imperfectly 
known. The Medes, hitherto independent tribes, were united under 
a monarchy by Dejoces. JHis son Phraortes conquered Pei-sia, but viv 

C 2 • ■' 



30 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

himself vanquished by Nabuchodonosor I., king of Assyria, and put 
to death. ' Nabuchodonosor II. led the Jews into captivity, took Je- 
. rusalem and Tyre, and subdued Egypt. 

3. The history of Cyrus is involved in great uncertainty ; nor is 
it possible to reconcile or apply to one man the different accounts 
given of him by Herodotus, Ctesias, and Xenophon. Succeeding 
his father Cambyses in the throne of Persia, and his uncle Cyaxares 
in the sovei'eignty of the Medes, he united these empires, vanquish- 
ed the Babylonians and Lydians, subjected the greatest part of the 
Lesser Asia, and made himself master of Syria and Arabia. 

4; He was succeeded by his son Cambyses, distinguished only as 
a tyrant and a madman. 

5. After the death of Cambyses, Darius, the son of Hystaspes. 
was elected sovereign of Persia, a prince of great enterprise and 
ambition. Unfortunate in a rash expedition against the Scythians, 
he projected and achieved the conquest of India. Inflated with suc- 
cess, he now meditated an invasion of Greece, and cordially entered 
into the views of Hippias, who sought by his means to regain the 
sovereignty of Athens. 

6. GavernnmU, Manners^ Lcm's, ^-c. of the Ancient Persians. The 
government of Persia was an absolute monarchy ; the will of the sov- 
ereign being subject to no control, and his person revered as sacred: 
yet the education bestowed by those monarchs on their children was 
calculated to inspire eveiy valuable quality of a sovereign. 

The ancient Persians in general bestowed the utmost attention on 
the education of youth. Children at the age of live were committed 
to the care of the magi, for the improvement of their mind and 
morals. They were trained at the same time to every manly exercise 
The sacred books of the Zendavcsta promised to every worthy parent 
the imputed merit and reward of all the good actions of his chil- 
dren. 

7. Luxurious as they were in after times, the early Persians were 
distinguished for their temperance, bravery, and virtuous simplicity 
of manners. They were all trained to the use of arms, and display- 
ed great intrepidity in war. The custom of the women following 
their armies to the field, erroneously attributed to effeminacy, was 
a remnant of Ijarbarous manners. 

8. The kingdom of Persia was divided into several provinces, each 
under a governor or satrap, who was accountable to the sovereign 
for the whole of his conduct. The prince, at stated times, visited 
his provinces in person, correcting all abuses, easing the burdens 
of the oppressed, and encouraging agriculture and the practice of 
the useful arts. The laws of Persia were mild and equitable, and 
the utmost purity was observed in the administration of justice. 

9. The religiopi of the ancient Persians is of great antiquity. It 
is conjectured that there were two Zoroasters ; the first, the founder 
of this ancient religion, and of whom are recorded miracles and 
prophecies ; the second, a reformer of that religion, contemporary 
with Darius the son of Hystaspes. The ZendavesUi, or sacred book, 
compiled bv the former, was improved and purified by the latter. 
It has been lately translated into French by M. Anquetil,"and appears 
to contain, amidst a mass of absurdity, some subUme truths, and ex- 
cellent precepts of morality. The theology of the Zendavesta is 
founded on the doctrine of two opposite prmciples, a good and an 
-"vil, Ormusd and Ahriman, eternal beings, who divide between theni 

^ ^ government of the ucivei-se, and whose warfare must endure till 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 31 

the end of 12,000 years, when the good will finally prevail over the 
evil. A separation will ensue of the votaries of each : the just shall 
be admitted to the immediate enjoyment of Paradise ; the wicked, 

' after a limited purilication by tire, shall ultimately be allowed to par- 
take in the blessings of eternity. Ormusd is to be adored through 

" the medium of his greatest works, the sun, moon, and stars. The 
fire, the symbol of the sun, the air, the earth, the water, have their 

. gubordinatevvorship. 

The morality ol the Zeiulavesta is best known from its abridg- 
ment, the Sadder, complied about three centuries ago by the modem 
Guebres. It inculcates a chastened species of epicurism ; allowing 
a free indulgence of the passions, while consistent with the welfare 
of society. It prohibits equally intemperance and ascetic mortifica- 
tion. It recommends, as precepts of religion, the cultivation of the 

' earth, the planting of fruit-trees, the destruction of noxious animals^ 
the bringing water to a barren land. 

' 10. Such were the ancient Persians. But their character had un- 
dergone a great change before the period of the war with Greece. 
At tliis time they were a degenerate and corrupted people. Athena 
had recently thrown ofi" the yoke of the Pisistratidae, and highly val- 

, ued her new liberty. Sparta, in the ardour of patriotism, torgot all 
jealousy of her rival state, and cordially united in the defence of 

^ their common country. The Persians, in this contest, had no other 
advantage than that of numbers, an unequal match for superior hero- 
ism and military skill. 



SECTION Xll. 

THE WAR. BETWEEN GREECE AND PERSIA. 

1 . The ambition of Darius, the son of Hystaspes, heightened by the 
passion of revenge, gave rise to the project of that monarch for the 
invasion of Greece. The Athenians nad aided the people of Ionia in 
an attempt to throw off the yoke of Persia, and burnt and ravaged 
Sardis, the capital of Lydia. Darius speedily reduced the lonians to 
submission, and then turned his arms against the Greeks, their allies; 
the exile Hippias eagerly prompting the expedition. 

2. After an insolent demand of submission, which the Greeks scornr 
fully refusetl, Darius began a hostile attack both by sea and land. 
The first Persian fleet was wrecked in doubling the promontory of 
Athos; a second, of 600 sail, ravaged the Grecian islands; while an 
immense army landing in Euboea, poured down with impetuosity on 
Attica. The Athenians met them on the plain of Marathon, and, 
headed by Miltiades, defeated them with prodigious slaughter, 490 
A. C. The loss of the Persians in this battle was 6,300, and that of 
the Athenians 190. 

3. The merit of Miltiades, signally displayed in this great battle, 
was repaid by his country with the most shocking ingratitude. Ac- 
cused of treason for an unsuccessful attack on the isle of Paros, his 
sentence of death was commuted into a fine of fifty talents ; which 
being unable to pay he was thrown into prison, and there died of his 
wounds. 

4. The glory of ungrateful Athens was yet nobly sustained in the 
Persian war by Themistocles and Aristides. Darius dying was suc- 
ceeded by his soQ Xerxes, the heir of his father's ambition, but not of 



32 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

his abilities. He armed, as is said, five millions of men, for the con- 
quest of Greece; 1,200 ships of war, and 3,000 ships of burden. 
Landing in Thessaly he proceeded, by rapid marches, to Thermop- 
ylae, a narrow defile on the Sinus Maliacus. The Athenians and 
Spartans, aided only by the Thespians, Plataeans, and Eginetes, de- 
termined to withstand the invader. Leorjidas, king of Sparta, was 
chosen to defend this important pass with 6,000 men., Xerxes, after 
a weak attempt to corrupt him, imperiously summoned him to lay 
down his arms. Let him come^ said liConidas, and take thenu For two 
days the Persians in vain strove to force their way, and were repeat- 
edly repulsed with great slaughter. An unguarded track being at 
length discovered, the defence of the pass became a fruitless attempt 
on the part of the Greeks. Leonidas, foreseeing certain destruction, 
commanded all to retire but:300 of his countrymen. His motive was 
to give the Persians a just idea of the spirit of that foe whom they 
had to encounter. He, with his brave Spartans, were all cut off to a 
man,,480 A. C. A monument, erected on the spot, bore this noble 
inscription, written by Simonides : O stranger ! tell it at Lacedaemon^ 
that we died here in obedience to her laws. 

5. The Persians poured down upon Attica. The inhabitants of 
Athens, after conveying their women and children to the islands for 
security, betook themselves to their fleet, abandoning the city, which 
the Persians pillaged and burnt. The fleet of the Greeks, consisting 
of 380 sail, was attacked in the straits of Salamis by that of the Per- 
sians, amounting to 1,200 ships. jOierxes himself beheld from an em- 
inence on the coast the total discomfiture of his squadron. He then 
fled with precipitation across the Hellespont. A second overthrow 
awaited his army by land : for Mardonius, at the head of 300,000 
Persians, was totally defeated at Platgea by the combined army of the 
Athenians and Lacedaemonians, 479 A. C. On the same day the 
Greeks engaged and destroyed the remains of the Pei-sian fleet at 
Mycale. I'rom that day the ambitious schemes of Xerxes were at 
an end ; and his inglorious life was soon after terminated by assassina- 
tion. He was succeeded in the thi'one of Persia by his son Artaxerxes 
Longimanus, 464 A. C. 

6. At this time the national character of the Greeks was at its highest 
elevation. The common danger had annihilated all partial jealousies 
between the states, and given them union as a nation. But with the 
cessation of danger those jealousies recommended. Sparta meanly 
opposed the rebuilding of deserted Athens. Athens, rising again into 
splendour, saw with pleasure the depopulation of Sparta b^ an earth- 
quake, and hesitated to give her aid in that juncture of calamity 
against a rebellion of her slaves. 

7. Cimon, the son of Miltiades^ after expelling the Persians from 
Thrace, attacked and destroyed their fleet on the coast of Pamphylia, 
and, landing his troops, gained a signal victory over their army the 
same day. Supplanted in the public favour by the arts of his rival 
Pericles, he suffered a temporary exile, to return only with higher 
popularity, and to signalize himself still more in the service ot his 
ungrateful country. He attacked and totally destroyed the Persian 
fleet of 300 sail, and, landing in Cilicia, completed his triumph, by 
defeating 300,000 Persians under Megabyzes, 460 A. C. Artaxerxes 
now had the prudence to sue for peace, which was granted by the 
Greeks, on terms most honourable to the nation. 1 hey stipulated 
for the freedom of all the Grecian cities of Asia, and that the fleets of 
Persia should not approach their coasts from the Euxine to the ex- 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 33 

treme boundary of Pamphylia. The last fifty years were the period 
of the highest glory of the Greeks ; and they owed their prosperity 
entirely to their union. The peace with Persia, dissolving that con- 
nexion, brought back the jealousies between the predominant states, 
the intestine disorders of each, and the national Aveakness. 

8. TKe martial and the patriotic spirit began visibly to decline in 
Athens. An acquaintance with Asia, and an importation of her 
wealth, introduced a relish for Asiatic manners and luxuries. With 
the Athenians, however, this luxurious spirit was under the guidance 
of taste and genius. It led to the cultivation of the finer arts ; and 
the age of Pericles, though the national glory was in its wane, is the 
»ra of the highest internal splendour and magnificence of Greece. 



SECTION XIII. 

AGE OF PERICLES. 

1. Republics, equally with monarchies, are generally regulated 
by a single will : only, in the former there is a more frequent change 
of masters. Pericles ruled Athens with little less than arbitrary 
sway ; and Athens pretended at this time to the command of Greece. 
She held the allied states in the most absolute subjection, and lavished 
their subsidies, bestowed for the national defence, in magnificent 
buildings, games, and festivals, for her own citizens. The tributary 
states loudly complained, but durst not call this domineering republic 
to account ; and the war of Peloponnesus, dividinfnfhe nation into 
two great parties, bound the less cities to the strictest subordination 
on the predominant powers. 

2. The state of Corinth had been included in the last treaty be- 
tween Athens and Sparta. The Corinthians waging war with the 

f)eople of Corcyra, an ancient colony of their own, both parties so- 
icited the aid of Athens, which took part with the latter: a measure 
which the Corinthians complained of, not only as an infraction of the 
treaty with Sparta, but ss a breach of a general rule of the national 
policy, that no foreign power should interfere in the disputes between 
a colony and its parent state. War was proclaimed on this ground 
between Athens and Lacedaemon, each supported by its respective 
allies. The detail of the war, which continued for twenty-eight 
years, with variovis and alternate success, is to be ibund in Tnucyd- 
ides. Pericles died before its termination; a splendid ornament of 
his country, but a corrupter of its manners. Alcibiades ran a similar 
career, with equal talent", equal ambition, and still less cirity of 
moral principle. In the interval of a truce with Sparta h*- (consid- 
erately projected the conquest of Sicily ; and, failin,^ in tl^c .\ttempt, 
was, on his return to Athens, condemned to death io'- ; ".icon. He 
hesitated not to wreak liis vengeance against his con uy, by selling 
his services, first to Sparta, and afterwards to Tert'-u Finally, he 
purchtised his peace with his country, by beLraymg the power 
which protected him, and returned to Athens the idol of a populace 
as versatile as worthless, 

3. A. fat^il defeat of the Athenian fleet at Mgos Potamos, by Ly- 
sander, reduced Athens to the last extremity; and the Lacedsemoniahs 
blockaded the city by land and sea. The war was ended by the 
absolute submission of the Athenians, who agreed to demolish their 
port, to lunit their fleet to twelve ships, and undertake for the future 

5 



34 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

no military enterprise, but under command of the Lacedaemonians, 
405 A. C. 

4. To the same Lysander, who terminated the Peloponnesian war 
so gloriously for Lacedaemon, history ascribes the first great breach 
of the constitution of his country, by the introduction of gold into 
that repubhc. Lysander, after the reduction of Athens, abolished 
the popular government in that state, and substituted in its place 
thirty tyrants, whose power was absolute. The most eminent of 
the citizens fled from their country ; but a band of patriots, headed 
by Thrasybulus, attacked, vanquished, and expelled the usurpers, 
and once more re-established the democracy. 

6. One event, which happened at this time, reflected more disgrace 
on the Athenian name than their national humiliation : this was the per- 
secution and death of Socrates, a philosopher who was himself the ^ 
t)attern of every virtue which he taught. The sophists, whose futile i|^ 
ogic he derided and exposed, represented him as an enemy to the 
religion of his country, because, without regard to the popular su- 
perstitions, he led the mind to the knowledge of a Supreme Being, 
the creator and ruler of the universe, and to the belief of a future 
state of retribution. He made his defence with the manly fortitude of 
conscious innocence ; but in vain : his judges were his pereonal ene- 
mies, and he was condemned to die by poison, 397 A. C. (See Sec- 
tion XXIII, § 5.) 

6. On the death of Darius Nothus, his eldest son Artaxerxes Mne- 
mon succeeded to the empire of Persia. His younger brother Cyrus } 
formed the project of dethroning him, and with the aid of 13,000 
Greeks engaged him near Babylon, but was defeated and slain ; a 
just reward of his most culpable enterprise. The remainder of the 
Grecian army, to the amount of 10,000, under the command of Xen- 
ophon, made a most amazing retreat, traversing a hostile country of 
1,600 mUes in extent, from Babylon to the banks of the Euxine.'^ Xen- 
ophon has beautiiully written the history of this expedition ; but has 
painted the character of Cyrus in too flattering colours, and without 
the smallest censure of his criminal ambition. 

7. The Greek cities of Asia had taken part with Cyrus. Sparta 
was engaged to defend her countrymen, and consequently was in- 
volved in a war with Pei-sia. Had Athens added her sh'ength, the 
Greeks might have once more defied the power of Asia; but jealousy 
kept the states divided, and even hostile to each other ; and the gold 
of Artaxerxes excited a general league in Greece against Lacedae- 
mon. Agesilaus, king of Sparta, sustained for a time the honour of 
his country, and won some important battles in Asia; but others were 
lost in Greece ; and a naval defeat near Cnidos utterly destroyed the 
Lacedaemonian fleet. Finally, to escape total destruction, the Spartans 
sued for peace, and obtained it by the sacrifice to Persia of all the 
Asiatic colonies, 387 A. C. Artaxerxes further demanded, and obtain- 
ed for his allies the Athenians, the islands of Scyros, Lemnos, and Im- 
bros : a disgraceful treaty; a mortifying picture of the humiliation of 
the Greeks. 



ANCIENT HISTORY, 38 

SECTION XIV. 

THE REPUBLIC OF THEBES. 

1 . While Athens and Sparta were thus visibly tending to decline, 
the The ban republic emerged from obscurity, and rose for a time 
to a degree of splendour eclipsing all its contemporary states. The 
republic was divided by faction, one party supporting its ancient de- 
mocracy, and the other aiming at the establishment of an oligarchy. 
The latter courted the aid of the Spartans, who embraced that occa- 
sion to take possession of the citadel. Four hundred of the exiled 
Thebans fled for protection to Athens. Among these was Pelopidas, 
who planned and accomplished Ihe deliverance of his country. Dis- 
guising himself and twelve of his friends as peasants, he entered 
Thebes in the evening, and joining a patriotic party of the citizens, 
they surprised the heads of the usurpation amid the tumult of a feast, 
and put them all to death. Epaminondas, the friend of Pelopidas, 
shared with him in the glory of this enterprise ; and attacking, with 
the aid of 5,000 Athenians, the Lacedaemonian garrison, drove them 
entirely out of thTe Theban territory. 

2. A war necessarily ensued between Thebes and Sparta, in which 
, the former had the aid of Athens. This, however, was but for a sea- 
son. Tiiebes singly opposed the power of Sparta, and the league of 
Greece: but Epaminondas and Pelopidas were her generals. The 
latter, amidst a career of glory, perished in an expedition against 
the tyrant of Pheraea. Epaminondas, triumphant at Leuctra and Man- 
tinea, fell in that last engagement, and with him espired the glory of 
his country, 363 A. C. Athens and Sparta were humbled at tlie battle 
of Mantinea. Thebes was t ictorious); but she was undone by tlie death 
of Epaminondas. All parlies vv ere tired of the war ; and Artaxerxes, 

. more powerful among those infatuated states than in his own domin- 
ions, dictated the terms of the treaty. It was stipulated that each 
^ power should retain what it possessed ; and that the less states, now 
' iree from the yoke o£ the greater, should remain so. 



SECTION XV. 

PHILIP OF MACEDON. 

1 . Greece was now in the most abject situation. -The spirit of 
^ patriotism appeared utterly extinct, and military glory at an end. 
* Athens seemed to have lost all ambition ; the pleasures of luxury had 
entirely supplanted heroic virtue ; poets, musicians, sculptors, and 
■ comedians, were now the only great men of Attica. Sparta, no less 
changed from the simplicity of its ancient manners, and its power 
abridged by the new independency of the states of Peloponnesus, 
was in no capacity to attempt a recovery of its former greatness. In 
, this situation Philip of Macedon formed the ambitious project of bring- 
ing under his dominion the whole of Greece. 
« 2. He had mounted the throne of Macedon by popular choice, in 
1 violation of the natural right of the nearer heirs to the crown ; and 
I he secured his power by the success of his arms against the Illyrians, 
Paeonians, and Athenians, who espoused the interest of his competitors. 
Uniting to great military talents the most consummate artilice and ad- 



36 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

dress, he had his pensionaries in all the states of Greece, who direct- 
ed to his advantage every public measure. The miserable policy 
of these states, embroiled in perpetual quarrels, co-operated with his 
designs. A sacrilegious attempt of the Fhocians to plunder the tem- 

f)le of Delphos" excited the socred n-ar^in which almost all the repub- 
ics took a part. Philip's aid being courted by the Thebans and 
Thessalians, he began hostilities by invading Pnocis, the key to the 
territory of Attica. iEschines, the orator, bribed to his interest, at- 
tempted to quiet the alrsrms of the Athenians, by ascribing to Philip 
a design only of punishing sacrilege, and vindicating the cause of 
Apollo. Demosthenes, with true patriotism, exposed the artful de- 
signs of the invader, and with the most animated eloquence roused 
his countrymen to a vigorous effort for the pi'esen^ation of their nat- 
ural liberties. But the event was unsuccessliiL The battle of Che- 
ronaea, fought 337 A. C, decided the fate of Greece, and subjected all 
the states to the dominion of the king of Macedon. But it was not 
his policy to treat them as a conquered people. They retained their 
separate and independent governments, while he controlled and direct- 
ed all the national measures. Convoking a general council of the states, 
Philip was appointed commander in chief of the forces of the nation; 
and he laid before them his project for the conquest of Persia, ap- 
pointing each republic to furnish its proportional subsidies. On the 
eve of this great enterprise Philip was assassinated by Pausanias, a 
captain of his guards, in revenge of a private injury, 336 A. C. The 
Athenians, on the death of Philip, meanly expressed the most tumul- 
tuous joy, in the hope of a recovery of their liberty ; but this vision-' 
ary prospect was never realized. The spirit of the nation was gone ; 
and in their subsequent revolutions they only changed their masters. 



SECTION XVI. 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 

1. Alexander, the son of Philip, succeeded at the age of twenty to 
the throne of Macedon, and, after a lew successful battles against the 
revolted states, to the command of Greece. Assembling the deputies 
of the nation at Corinth, he communicated to them his resolution of 
prosecuting the designs of his father for the conquest of Persia. 

2. With an army of 30,000 foot, and 6,000 horse, the sum of 70 tal- 
ents, and provisions only for a single month, he crossed the Hellespont, 
and in traversing Phrygia visited the tomb of Achilles. Darius Co- 
domanus, resolved to crush at once this inconsiderate youth, met him 
on the banks of the Granicus^ with 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse. 
The Greeks swam the river, their king leading the van, and, attack- 
ing the astonished Persians, left 20,000 dead upon the field, and put to 
flight their whole army. Drawing from his first success a presage 
of continued victory, Alexander now sent home his fleet, leaving to 
his army the sole alternative, that they must subdue Asia or perish. 
Prosecuting their course for some time without resistance, the Greeks \ 
were attacked by the Pereians in a narrow valley of Cilicia, near the { 
town of Issus. The Persian host amounted to 400,000 ; but their sit- 
uation was such that only a small part could come into action, and 
they were defeated with prodigious slaughter. The loss of tlie Per- 
sians in this battle was'l 10,000 ; that of the Greeks (according to Q, 
Curtius) only 450.,* 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 37 

3. The history of Alexander by Q,uintus Curtius, though a most 
elegant composition, is extremely suspicious on the score of authen- 
tic information. Arrian is the best authority. 

4. The generosity of Alexander was displayed after the battle of 
Issus, in his attention to his noble prisoners, tlie mother, the wife, 
and family of Darius. To the credit of Alexander it must be owned 
that humanity, however overpowered, and at times extinguished by 
his passions, certainly formed a part of his natural character. 

5. The consequence of the battle of Issus was the submission of 
all Syria. Damascus, where Darius had deposited his chief treasures, 
was betrayed and given up by its governor. The Phoenicians were 
pleased to see themselves thus avenged for the oppression which they 
had suffered under the yoke of Persia. 

6. Alexander had hitherto borne his good fortune Avith moderation, 
Felix, says Cuvtius, si kac contiuentia ad ultimum vitw perseverare pot- 
tiisset ; sed nondiun Fortuna se amnio ejus infuderat.^ He directed his 
course towards Tyre, and desired admittance to perform a sacrifice 
to Hercules. The Tyrians shut their gates, and maintained for seven 
months a noble defence. The city was at length taken by stonn, 
and the victor glutted his revenge by the inhuman massacre of 8,000 
of the inhabitants. The late of Gaza, gloriously defended by Betis, was' 
equally deplorable to its citizen^?, and more disgraceful to the con- 
queror. Ten thousand of the former were sold into slavery, imd ifs 
brave defender dragged at the wheels of the victor's chariot : Ghri- 
ante rege, Achillem, a quo genus ipse deducerd, iiuitatuiu se esse, pana 
in hoslem capienda.']^ Curtius. 

7. The taking of Gaza opened Egypt to Alexander, and the whole 
country submitted without opposition. The course he now pursued 
demonstrated that in his conquests he followed no determined plan. 
Amidst the most incredible fatigues, he led his army through the 
deserts of Lybia, to visit the temple of his father, Jupiter Ammoii. On 
his return he built Alexandria, at the mouth of the N ile, afterwards the 

'capital of the Lower Egypt, and one of the most llourishing cities in 
the world. Twenty other cities of the same name were reared by 
tiim in the course of his conquests. It is such works as these that 
,iustly entitle the Macedonian to the epithet of Great. By rearing 

kin the midst of deserts those nurseries of population and of industry, 
he repaired the waste and havoc of his conquests. Except lor those 
monuments of his glory, he would have merited no other epithet 
than that assigned him by the brahmins of India, The Mighty Murderer. 

8. Returning from Egypt, Alexander traversed Assyria, and was 
met at Arbela by Darius, at the head of 700,000 men. The Persian 
had proffered peace, consenting to yield the whole country from the 

'Euphrates to the Hellespont, to give Alexander his daughter in mar- 
riage, and the immense sum of 10,000 talents. But theae terms 
were haughtily rejected, and peace offered only upon the unqualified 
submission of his enemy. The Persians were defeated at Arbela, 
with the loss of 300,000 men. Darius fled from province to province. 
At length betrayed by Bessus, one of his own satraps, he was cruelly 
murdered; and the Persian empire, which had subsisted for 20G 
years from the time of Cyrus the great, submitted to the conqueror, 

^330 A. C. 

* Happy if he could have persevered in this temperance to the end of 
his life, but Fortune had not yet poisoned" his mind, 

t The king boasting- that he imitated Achilles, from ■whom he supposed 
himself descended, in the infliction of this punishmeiit upon his enemy. 

D K ^ 



88 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

9. Alexander now projected the conquest of India, firmly persuad- 
ed that the gods had decreed him the sovereignty of the whole liab- 
itable globe. He penetrated to the Ganges, and would have pro- 
ceeded to the eastern ocean, if the spirit of his army had kept pace 
with his ambition. But his troops, seeing no end to their toils, refus- 
ed to proceed. He returned to the Indus, whence sending round his 
fleet to the Persian gulf under Nearchus, he marched his army 
across„the desert to PersepoUs. 

10. Indignant that he had found a limit to his conquests, he abandoned 
himself to every excess of luxury and debauchery. The arrogance 
of his nature, and the ardour of his passions, heightened by continual 
intemperance, broke out into the most outrageous excesses of cruelty, 
for which, in the few intervals of sober I'ctiection, his ingenuous 
mind suffered the keenest remorse. From PersepoUs he returned 
to Babylon, and there died in a lit of debauch, in the thirty-third year *] 
of his age, and thirteenth of his reign, 324 A. C. 

11. Of the character of Alexander the most opposite and contra- 
dictory estimates have been formed. While by some he is esteemed 
nothing better than a fortunate madman, he is by others celebrated 
for the grandeur, wisdom, and solidity of his political views. Truth 
is rarely to be found in extreme censure or applause. We may al- 
low to Alexander the spirit and the talents of a great military genius, 
without combining with these the sober plans of a profound politician. 
In a moral view of his character, we see an excellent and ingenuous 
nature corrupted at length by an unvarying current of success, and a 
striking example of the fatal violence of the passions, when eminence 
of fortune removes all restraint, and flattery stimulates to their un- 
controlled indulgence. 



SECTION XVII. 

SUCCESSORS or ALEXANDER. 

1. ALEXA>fDER, on his death-bed, named no successor, but gave his 
ring to Perdiccas, one of his officers. When his courtiers asked him 
to whom he wished the empire to devolve upon his death, he replied, 
" To the most worthy ;"' and he is said to have added, that he fore- 
saw this legacy would prepai'e for him very extraordinary funeral 
rites ; a prediction which was fully verified. 

2. Perdiccas, sensible that his pretensions would not justify a di- 
rect assumption of the government of this vast empire, brought about 
a division of the whole among thirty-three of the principal officers ; 
and trusting to their inevitable dissensions, he proposed by that means ' 
to reduce all of them under his own authority. Hence arose a series 
of wars and intrigues, of which the detail is barren both of amuse- 
ment and useful information. It is sufficient to say, that their conse- 
quence was a total extirpation of the family of Alexander, and a new 
partition of the empire into four great monarchies, the shares of 
Ptolemv, Lysimachus, Cassander, and Seleucus. Of these the most 
powerful were that of Syria under Seleucus and his descendants, and 
that oi' Egypt the Ptolemies. 

'""We cannot (says Condillac) fix our attention on the history of 
the successors of Alexander, though a great theatre is opened to our 
view, a variety of scenes, and multiplied catastrophes. A picture is 
often displeasing from the very circumstance of its greatness. We 

~^ 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 39 

lose the connexion of its parts, because the eye cannot take them in 
at once. Still less will a large picture give us pleasure, if every part 
of it presents a difterent scene, each unconnected with the other." 
Such is the history of the successors of Alexander. 



SECTION XVIII. 



FALL AND CONQUEST OF GREECE. 

1. Nor is the history of Greece from the period of the death of Al- 
exander any longer an interesting or pleasing object of contemplation. 

fSemosthenes once more made a noble attempt to vindicate the nation- 
\lHreedom, and to rouse his countrymen, the Athenians, to shake off 
the yoke of Macedon. But it was too late. The pacific counsels of 
Fhocion suited better the languid spirit of this once illustrious people. 

2. The history of the diilei-ent republics present from this time 
nothing but a disgusting series of uninteresting revolutions ; with the 
exception only of that last effort made by the Achaean states to re- 
vive the expiring liberty of their country. The republic of Achaia 
was a league of a i'ew oi the smaller states to vindicate their freedom 
against the domineering spirit olthe greater. They committed the 
government of the league to Aratus of Sicyoo, with the title of prae- 
tor, a young man of high ambition, who immediately conceived the 
more extensive project of rescuing the whole of Greece from the 
dominion of Macedon. But the jealousy of the greater states render- 
ed this scheme abortive. Sparta refused to arrange itself under the 
guidance of the praetor of Achaia : and Aratus, forgetting his patriotic 
designs, sought only now to wreak his vengeance against the Lace- 
daemonians. For this purpose, with the most inconsistent policy, he 
courted the aid even of the Macedonians : the very tyrants who had 
enslaved his country. 

3. The period was now come for the intervention of a foreign 
power, which was to reduce all under its wide-spreading dominion. 
The Romans were at this time the most powerful of all the contem- 
porary nations. The people of Etolia, attacked by the Macedonians, 
with a rash policy besought the aid of the Romans, who, eager to 
add to their dominion this devoted country, cheerfully ooeyed the 
summons, and speedily accomplished the reduction of Macedonia. 
Perseus, its last sovereign, was led captive to Rome, and graced the 
triumph of Paulus ^milius, 167 A. C. From that period the Ro- 
mans were hastily advancing to the dominion of all Greece ; a prog- 
ress in which their art was more conspicuous than their virtue. 
They gained their end by fostering dissensions between the states, 
which they directed to their own advantage, corrupting their princi- 
pal citizens, and using, in fine, every art of the most insidious policy. 
xV pretext was only wanting to unsheath the sword, and this was 
furnished bv the Achaean states, who insulted the deputies of imperi- 
al Rome. This drew on them at once the ^"esentmeut of the Romans. 
Metellus marched his legions into Greece, gave them battle, and en- 
tirely defeated them. Mumn)iu3 the consul terminated the work, 
and made an easy conquest of the whole of Greece, which from that 
period became a Roman province, under the name of Achaia, 146 A. C. 

4. Rome had acquired from her conquests a flood of wealth, and 
began now to manifest a taste for luxury, and a spirit of refinement. 



40 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

In these points Greece was to its conquerors an instructer and a 
model : 

Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit, et artes 
Intulit c^resti Latio.* 

Hence, even though vanquished, it was regarded with a species of 
respect by its ruder masters. 



SECTION XIX. 

POLITICAL RKFLECTIONS ARISING FROM THE HISTORY 
OF THE STATES OF GREECE. 

1. Thk revolutions wliich the states of Greece underwent, and the 
situations into which they were thrown by their connexion and differ- 
ences with eacli other, and their wars with foreign nations, were so 
various, that their history isascliool of instruction in poUtical science. 
The surest test of the truth or falsehood of al)stract principles of pol- 
itics, is their application to actual experience and to the history of 
nations. 

<i. The oppression which the states of Greece suffered under their 
ancient despots, who were subject to no constitutional control, was a 
most justiliable motive for their establishing a new form of govern- 
n>ont, which promised them the enjoyment of greater political free- 
dom. We believe too that those new forms of government were fram- 
ed by their virtuous legislators in the true spirit of patriotism. But 
as to the real merits of those political iiibrics, it is certain that they 
were very far from correspomUng in practice with what was expect- 
ed from tliom in theory. We seek in vain, either in the history of 
Athens or Lacedaimon, for the beautiful idea of a well-orderedcommon- 
wealth. The revolutions of government which they were ever ex- 
periencing, the eternal tactions with which they were embroiled, 
plainly demonstrate that there was a radical defect in the structure of 
the inacliine, which precluded the possibility of regular motion. The 
condition of the people under those governments w;is such as par- 
took more of servituue and oppression, tliau that of the subjects ot^the 
most despotic monarchies. The slaves formed the actual majority of 
the inhabitants in all the states of Greece. To these the free citi- 
zens were rigorous bond-masters. Bondage being a consequence of 
the contraction of debts even by freemen, a great proportion of these 
was sul»ject to the tyrannical control of their fellow-citizens. Nor 
were the richer classes in the actual enjoyment of independence. 
They were perpetually divided into factions, which servilely ranked 
themselves under the banners of the contending chiets of the repub- 
lic. Those parties were kept together solely by corruption. The 
whole was therefore a system of servility and debasement of spirit, 
which left nothing of a tree or ingenuous nature in the condition of in- 
dividuals, nor any thing that could furnish encomium to a real advo- 
cate for the dignity of human nature. 

Such was the condition of the chief republics of antiquity. Their 
governments promised in theory, what they never conferred in prac- 
tice, the political happiness of the citizens. 

* For conquered Greece subdued her conquerin* foe, 
And taught rude Rome, the arts of peace to know. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 41 

3. " In democracy (says Dr. Fergusson) men must love equality ; 
they must respect the rights of their fellow-citizens ; they must be 
satisfied with that degree of consideration which they can procure by 
their abilities fairly measured against those of an opponent ; they 
must labour for the public without hope of profit ; they must reject 
every attempt to create a personal dependance.'* This is the picture 
of a republic in theory. If we reverse this picture in every single 
particular, and take its direct opposite, we shall have the ti'ue por- 
trait of a republican government in practice. 

4. It is the fundamental theory of Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, 
that the three distinct forms of government, the monarchical, despot- 
ical, and republican, are influenced by the three separate principles 
of honour, fear, and virtue ; and this theory is the ibundation on 
which the author builds a great part of his political doctrines. That 
each (jf these principles is exclusively essential to its respective form 
of government, but unnecessary and even prejudicial in the othei"s, is a 
position contrary both to reason and to truth. ]So form of govern- 
ment can subsist where every one of those principles has not its 
operation. The admission ol such a theory leads to the most mis- 
chievous conclusions ; as, for example, that in monarchies the state 
dispenses with virtue in its olhcei"s and magistrates; that public 
employments ought to be venal; and that crimes, if kept secret, are 
of no consequence. 

5. It is only in the infant periods of the Grecian history that we 
are to look Pir those splendid examples of patriotism and heroic vir- 
tue, which the ardent mind of uncorrupted youth will ever delight 
to contemplate. The most remarkable circumstance which strikes 
us on comparing the latter with the more early periotls of the his- 
tory of the Greeks, is the total change in the genius and spirit of the 
people. The ardour of patriotism, the thii-st of military glory, the 
enthusiasm of liberty, decline with the rising grandeur and opulence 
of the nation, and an enthusiasm of another species, and tar less 
Avorlhy in its aim, succeeds: an admiration of the fine arts, a violent 
passion for the objects of taste, and for the refinements of luxury. 
This leads us to consider Greece in the light in which, alter the loss 
of its liberty, it still continued to attract the admiration of other na- 
tions. ^ 

SECTION XX. 

STATE OF THE ARTS IN GREECE. 

1. It i.s not among the Greeks that we are to look for the greatest 
improvements in the useful and necessary arts of life. In agricul- 
ture, manufactures, commerce, they never were greatly distinguish- 
ed. But in those which are termed the fine arts, Greece surpassed 
all the contemporary nations. Tiic monuments of those which yet 
remain are the models of imitation^ and the confessed standard of 
excellence, in the judgment of the most polished nations of modern 
times. 

2. After the defeat of Xerxes the active spirit of the AtheninnSy 
which wovdd have otherwise languished tor want of an ohject,.taking 
a new direction t'rom luxury, displayed itself signally in all the works 
of taste in the fine art'. The administration oi Pericles was the xva 
of luxury and splendour. The arts broke out at once with surpris- 
ing lustre ; and architecture^ sculpture, and painting, were caniedE 

D2 6. 



42 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

to the summit of perfection. This golden age of the arts in Greece 
endured for about a century, till alter the death of Alexander the 
great. 

3. The Greeks were the parents of that system of architecture 
which is universally allowed to be the most perfect. 
j^ The Greek architecture consisted of three distinct orders : the 
(Doric, the ionic, and Corinthian. 

The Doric has a masculine grandeur, and a superior air of strength 
to both the otheiN. It is therefore best adapted to works of great 
magnitude, and of a sublime character. The chai'acter of sublimity 
is essentially connected with chasteness and simplicity. Of this or- 
der is the temple of Theseus at Athens, built ten years after the bat- 
tle of Marathon, and at this day almost entire. 

The Ionic oriler is light and elegant. The former has a masculine 
grandeur; the latter a feminine elegance. The Ionic is likewise 
simple : for simplicity is an essential requisite in true beauty. Of 
this onler were the temple of Apollo at Miletus, the temple of the 
Dehihic oracle, and the temple of Diana at Ephesus. 

The Corinthian marks an age of luxury and magnificence, when 
pomp and splendour had become the predominant passion, but had not 
yet extinguished the taste for the sublime and beautiful. It attempts 
therefore a union of all these characters, but satisfies not the chasten- 
ed judgment, and pleases only a corrupted taste. 



-'•'• First unadorned, 



'' And nobly plain, the manly Doric rose ; 

" The Ionic then, with decent matron grace, 

" Her aiiy pillar heavVl ; luxuriant last 

" The rich Corinthian spread her wanton wreath." 

THOJ>irsoN''s Lihtrly^ Part 2. 

4. Th^-'xuscan and the Composite orders^ are of Italian origin. 
The Etritscan architecture appears to have heen nearly allied to the 
Grecian, but to have possessed an interior degree of elegance. The 
Trajan column at Rome is of this order; less remarkble for the 
beauty of its proportions than for the admirable sculpture which 
decorates it. The Composite order Is what if-s name implies ; it shows 
that the Greeks had in the three original ordei-s exhausted all the 
principles of grandeur and beauty; and that it was not possible to 
irame a fourth, except by combining the fonder. 

5. The Gothic architecture olfei-s no contradiction to these obser- 
vations. The etfect which it produces cannot be altogether account- 
ed for from the rules of symmetry or harmony in the proportions be- 
tween the several parts; but depends on a certain idea of vastness, 
gloomuiess, and solemnity, which are poweiful ingredients in tlie 
sublime. 

6. :?culpturc was brought by the Greeks to as high perfection as 
arcbitectnre. The remains of Grecian sculpture are at this day the 
most perfect models of the art ; and the modem artists have no means 
of attaining to excellence so certain, as the study of those great mas- 
ter-pieces. 

7. The oxceUerce of tlie Greeks in sculpture may perhaps he 
accounted for chieliy I'rom their having the human figure often before 
their eyes quite naked, and in all its various attitudes, both in the 
j.iai(£stra^ and in tlie public games. The antique statues have there- 
ibre a grandeur united with perfect simplicity, because *he attitude is 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 43 

not the result of an artificial disposition of the figure, as in the mod- 
em academies, but is nature unconstrained. Thus, in the Dying 
Gladiator, when we observe the relaxation of the muscles, and the 
visible failure of strength and life, we cannot doubt that nature was 
the sculptor's immediate model of imitation.* 

8. And this nature was in reality superior to what we now see in 
the ordinary race of men. The constant practice of gymnastic ex- 
ercises gave a finer conformation of body than what is now to be found 
in the vitiated pupils of modem effeminacy, the artificial children of 
modem fashion. 

9. A sccomlary cause of the eminence of the Greeks in the arts of 
design, was their theology, which furnished an ample exercise for 
the genius of the sculptor and painter. 

10. We must speak with more diffidence of the ability of the 
Greeks in painting, than we do of their superiority in sculpture ; be- 
cause the existing specimens of the former are extremely r.ire, and 
the pieces which are preserved are probably not the most excellent. 
But in the want of actual evidence we have every presumption that 
the Greeks had attained toeq\ial perfection in the art of pr.iiuing and 
in sculpture ; tor if we find the judgment given by ancient vvritei"s of 
their excellence in sculpture confirmed by the universal assent of the 
best critics among the moderns, we have every reason to pn-sume an 
equal rectitude in the judgment which the same ancient writers have 
pronounced upon tlu'ir paintings. If Pliny is right in his opinion of 
the merits of those statues which yet remain, the Venus of Praxiteles, 
and the Laocoon of Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, we have 
no reason to suppose his taste to be less just when he celebrates the 
meiits, and critically characterizes the <^ifferent manners of Zeuxis, 
Apelles, Parrhasius, Protogenes, and Timanthes, whose works have 
perished. 

11. The paintings found in Herculaneum, Pompeii, the Sepul- 
chrum Nasonianum at Rome, were probably the work of Greek 
artists ; for the Romans were never eminent in any of the arts de- 
pendent on design. The.se paintings exhibit great knowledge of 
proportions, and of the chiaro-oscuro ; but betray an ignorance of 
the rules of perspective. 

1 2. The music of the ancients appears to have been very greatly 
inferior to that of the moderns. 

13. The pecuhar genius of the Greeks in the fine arts extended its 
effects to the revolutions of their states, and inlluenced their fate as a 
nation. 



SECTION XXI. 

OF THE GREEK POETS. 

1. Tke Greeks were the fiist who reduced the athletic exercises 
to a system, and considered them as an object of general attention and 
importance. The Panathona?an, and at'terwards the 01ym[)ic, the 
Pythian, Nemaean, and Isthmian games, were under the regulation 
of the laws. They contributed essentially to the improvement of the 
nation ; and, while tliey cherished martial ardour, and promoted har- 

* Cresilas vubieratum deficienlem fecit, ex qxto poisit inftlligi quantum 
rrxlet animi. Plin. lib. 36. Cresilas has represented a wounded man 
faintiug, from which we may perceive how much life still remains. 



44 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

dinees and agility of body, they cultivated likewise urbanity and po- 
liteness. 

2. The games of Greece were not confined to gymnastic or athlet- 
ic exercises. They encouraged competitions in genius and learning. 
They were the resort of the poets, the historians, and the philosophers. 

3* hi all nations, poetry is of greater antiquity than prose composi- 
tion. The earliest prose writers in Greece, Pherecydes of Scyros, 
and Cadmus of Miletus, were 350 years posterior to Homer. Any 
remains of the more ancient poets, as Linus, Orpheus, &.C., are ex- 
tremely suspicious. Homer is generally supposed to have tlourished 
ahout 907 A. C; to have followed the occupation of a lyandering 
minstrel, and to have composed his poems in detached fraementii, 
and separate l)allads,and episodes. Pisistratus, about 540 A. C., em- 
ployed some learned men to collect and methodize these fragments ; 
and to this we owe the complete poems of the Iliad and Odyssey. 
The distinguishing merits of Homer are, his profound knowledge of 
human nature, his faithful and minute descrijition of ancient n^an- 
ners, his genius for the sublime antl beautiful, and the harmony of 
his poetical numbers. His fidelity as a historii-.n has been questioned ; 
but the great outlines of his narrative are probably authentic. 

4. Hesiod was nearly contemporary nilh Homer: we should be 
little sensible of his merits, if tliev were not seen tlirough the medi- 
um of an immense antiquity. The poem of the Works and Days 
contains some judicious precepts of agriculture. The Theogony is 
an obscure history of the origin of the gods, and the formation of the 
universe. 

5. About two centuries after Homer and Hesiod, tlourished Archi- 
lochus, the inventor of Iambic verst- ; Terpander, equally eminent 
as a poet and a musician; bappbo, of whose composition we have 
two exquisite odes; Alcieus and Simonidcs, of whom there are some 
fine fragments; and Pindar and Anacreon, who have left enough to 
allow an accurate estimate of their meritsT) 

6. Pindar was esteemed by the ancients the chief of the lyric poets. 
He possesses unbounded fancy, and great sublimity of imagery ; but 
his digressions are so rapid anil so frequent, that we cannot discover 
the chain of thought ; and his expression is allowed, even by Longinus, 
to be often obscure and unintelligible. 

7. Anacreon is a gteat contrast to Pindar. His fancy suggests only 
familiar and luxurious pictures. He has no comprehension of the 
sublime, but contents himself with the easy, the graceful, and the 
wanton. His morality is loose, and his sentiments little else than the 
effysions of a voluptuary. 

8. The collection tenned Anthologia^ which consists chiefly of an- 
cient epigrams, contains many valuable specimens of the taste and 
poetical tancy of the Greeks, and contributes materially to the illus- 
tration of their mannei-s. The best of the modern epigrams may be 
traced to this source. 

^. The ara of tbe origin of dramatic composition among the Greeks 
iscabout 590 A. C. Tbespis was contemporary with Solon. Within 
little more than a century, the Greek drama was carried to its high- 
est perfection, ibr it'.schylus died 456 A. C. Aeschylus wrote sixty- 
six tragedies ; for tliirteen of which he gained the first prize of dra- 
matic poetry at the Olympic games. Like Shakspeare, his genius is 
sublime, and his imagination unbounded. He disdained regularity of 
plan, and all artificial restriction ; but unl'ortunately he disdained- 
likewise tbe restraints of decency and of good morals. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 45 

10. Euripides find Sophocles flourished about fifty years after 
jFiSchylus. Euripides is most masterly in painting the passion of love, 
both in its tenderest emotions and in its most violent paroxysms: yet 
the characters of his women demonstrate that he had no great opi\)ion 
of the virtues of the sex. Longinus does not rate high his talent for 
thesubUme. But he possessed a much superior excellence : his verses, 
nith great eloquence and harmony, breathe the most admirable mo- 
rality. There remain twenty tragedies of Euripides; and of these, 
the Medea is deemed the best. 

11. Sophocles shared with Euripides the palm of dramatic poetry;^ 
and is judged to have surpassed him in the grand and the sublime. Of 
1 20 tragedies which he composed, only seven remain. They display 
great knowledge of the himian heart, and a general chastity and 
simplicity of expression, which gave the greater force to the occasional 
strokes of the sublime. The Oedipus of Sophocles is esteemed the 
most perfect production of the Greek stage. 

12. The Greek comedy is divided into the ancient^ the middle^ and 
the nexsc. The tirst was a licentious satire and mimicry of real per- 
sonages, exhibiteil by name upon the stage. The laws rppressed this 
extreme license, and gave birtn to the middle comedy, which continued 
the satirical delineation of real persons, but under ticl it ions names. 
The last improvement consisted in banishing all personal satire, anil 
confining comedy to a delineation of manners. This was the new 
comedy. Of the first si)ecies, the ancient, we have no remains. The 
dramas of Aristophanes are an example of the second or middle 
comedy. The grossness of his raillery, and the malevolence which 
frequently inspired it, are a reproach" to the morals of that i>eople 
which could tolerate it. Yet his works have their value, as throwing 
light upon ancient manners. 

13. Of the new comedy, Menander was the bright example ; pos- 
sessing a vein of the most df licate wit, with the titmost purity of 
moral sentiment. Unfortunatrly we have nothing of him rrmaining^ 
but a few fragments preserved by Athena^us. We see a great deal of 
his merits, however, in his copyist and translator, Terence. 

14. The actors, both in the Greek and Roman theatres, wore masks, 
of which the features were strongly painted, and the mouth so con- 
structed its to increase the power ot'the voice. It is probable that the 
tragedy and comedy of the Greeks and Romans were set to music, 
and sung, like the recitative in the Italian opera. Sometimes one 
person was employed to recite or sing the part, and another to per- 
form the corresponding action or gesticulation. 

15. The mimes were burlesque parodit^s on the serious tragedy 
and comedy. The pantomimes consisted solely of gesticulation, and 
were carried to great perfection. 

SECTION XXII. 
OF TMK GREEK HISTORIANS. 

1 Thf. most eminent of the Greek historians were contempora- 
ries' Herodotus died 413 A. C. ; Thucydides 391 A. C; and Xeno- 
phon^ was about twenty years younger than Thucydides, Herodotus 
writes the ioint history of the Greeks and Persians, trom the time ot 
Cyrus, to t"lie battles of Plat«a and Mycale. He treats incidentally 
likewise of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Medes, and Lydians. His vera- 
city is to be depended on in all matters that fell under his own obser- 



46 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

viilion; but he admits too easily the reports of others, and is in gen- 
eral fond of the marvellous. His style is pure, and he has a copious 
elocution. 

3.(Thucydides, himself an able general, has written, with great abil- 
ity, the history of the iirst twenty-one years of the Peloponnesiaa 
war; introducing it with a sJiort narrative of the preceding periods 
of the history of Greece. He is justly esteemed for his fidelity and 
candour. His style is a contrast to the full and flowing period of 
Herodotus, posse-^sing a sententious brevity, which is at once lively 
and energetic. The history of the remaining six years of the war 
of Peloponnesus was written by Theopompus and Xenophon. 

3. Xenophon commanded the Greek army in the serv'ice of Cyrus 
the younger, in his culpable enterprise against his brother Artaxerx- 
es. "(See Sect. Xill, § G.) After the failure of this enterprise, Xeno- 
phon directed that astonishing retreat from Babylon to the Euxine, 
of which he has given a splendid and faithful narrative. He wrote 
likewise the Cyropedia, or the history of the elder Cyrus, which 
is beUved to be rather an imaginary delineation of an accomplished 
prince than a real narration. He continued the history of Thucyd- 
ides, and has left two excellent political tracts on the constitutions of 
Lacedaemon and Athens. His style is simple and energetic ; but the 
brevity of his sentences sometimes obscures his meaning. 

4. Greece, in its decline, produced some historians of great em- 
inence. PolvbiTis, a native of Megalopolis, wrote forty books of the 
Kom in and Greek history during his own age ; that is, from the be- 
ginning of the second Punic Avar to the reduction of Macedonia into 
a Ronvin province ; but of this great work, only the tirst five books 
are entire, with an epitome of the following twelve. He merits less 
the praise of eloquence than of authentic information, and most judi- 
cious reflection. 

5. Diodorus Siculus flourished in the time of Augustus, and compos- 
ed, in forty books, a general history of the world, under the title of 
Bibliotheca Historica. No more remain than fifteen books; of which 
the first five treat of the fabulous periods, and the history of the Egyp- 
ti:iDS, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, &c. prior to the Trojan war. The 
next five are wanting. The remainder brings down tlae history from 
the expedition of Xerxes into Greece till after the doath of Alexander 
the great. He is taxed *vifh chronological inaccuracy in the earlier 
parts of his work ; but the authenticity and correctness of the later 
periods are ununpeached. 

6. Dionysius o( Halicarnassus'i, eminent both as a historian and rhet- 
orician, flourished in the age of \ igtistu'^. His Roman Antiquities 
contiiin much valuable intbrmaii.^a, though his work is too much 
tinctured with the spirit of syrUematizing. 

7. Plutarch, a native of Cheronoa, in Bceotja, flourished in the 
reign of Nero. His Lives of Illustrious Meit is one of the most val- 
uable of the literary works of the ancients ; introducing us to an 
acquaintance with the private character anil manners of those eminent 
persons whose public achievements are recorded by professed his- 
torians. His morality is excellent ; and his style, though unpolished, 
is clear and energetic. 

8. Arrian wrote, in the reign of Adrian, seven books of the wars of 
Alexander, with great judgment and fidelity; his narrative being 
comiM)sed on the authority of Aristobulus and Ptolemy, two of 
Alexander's principal otficerg. His style is unadorned, but chaste, 
perspicuous, and manly. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. n 



SECTION XXIII. 

OF THE GREEK PHILOSOPHERS. 

1. After the lime of Homer and Hesiotl, the increasing reHsli for 
poetical composition gave rise to a set of men termed rhapsodists, 
whose employment was to recite at the games and festivals the com- 
positions of the older poets, and to comment on their merits and ex- 
plain their doctrines. Some of these, founding schools of instruction, 
were dignified by their pupils with the epithet of Sophists, or teach- 
ers of wisdom. 

r— -2. The most ancient school of philosophy was that founded by 
Thales, 640 A. C, and termed the Ionic. Thales is celebrated for 
^iTrrknowledge of geometry and astronomy. His metaphysical doc- 
trines are imperfectly known. He taughi the belief of a hrst caus,-^, 
and an over-ruling providence ; but supposed the Divinity to animate 
the universe, as the soul does the body. The moral doctrines of the 
Ionic school were pure and rational. The most eminent of the dis- 
ciples of Thales were Anaximander and Anaxagoras. 

3. Soon after the Ionic, arose the ItaUan sect, founded by Pythag- 
oras, who was born about 586 A. C. He is supposed to have derived 
much of his knowledge from Egypt; and he had, like the Egyptian 
priests, a public doctrine for the people, and a private for his disci- 
ples ; the former a good system of n)orals, the latter probably unin- 
telligible mystery. His notions of the Divinity were akin to those of 
Thales ; but he believed in the eteriiity of tiie universe, -ind its co- 
existence with the Deity. He taught the transmigration of tixe sou! 
through different bodies. His disciples lived in common ; abstained 
rigorously from the flesh of animals ; and held music in high estima- 
tion, as a corrective of the passions. Pythagora.s believed the earth 
to be a sphere, the planets to be inhabited, and the lixed stars to be 
the suns and centres of other systems. His most eminent followers 
were Empedocles, Epicharmus, Ocellus Lucanus, Timasus, Ai-chytas. 

4. The Eleatic sect was founded by Xenophanes, about 500 A. C. 
Its chief supporters were Parmenides, Zeno, and Lenpippus, citizens 
of Elea. The metiiphysical notions of this sect were utterly unintel- 
ligible. They maintained that things had neither beginning, end, 
nor any change ; and that all the clianges we perceive are in our 
own senses. Vet Leucippus taught the doctrine of atoms, whence 
he supposed all material substances to be fonned. Of this sect were 
Democritus and Heraclitus. 

5. The Socralic school arose from the Ionic. Socrates died 401 
A. C, the wisest, the most virtuous of the Greeks. He exploded the 
futile logic of the Sophists, which consisted of a set of general argu- 
ments, applicable to all manner of questions, and I)y which they could, 
with an appearance of plausibility, maintain either side of any prop- 
osition. Socrates always brought his antagonist to particulars ; be- 
ginning with a simple and undeniable position, which being granted, 
another followed equally undeniable, till the disputant wa-s conduct- 
ed step by step, by his own concessions, to that side of the question 
on which lay the truth. His rivals lost all credit as philosophers, but 
had influence to procure the destruction of the man who had expos- 
ed them. The doctrines of Socrates are to be learned from Plato 
and Xenophon. He taught the belief of a first cause, whose benefi- 



48 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

cence is equal to his power, the Creator and Ruler of the universe. 
He inculcated the moral agency of man, the immortality of the soul, 
and a future state of reward and punishment. He exploded the 
polytheisstic superstitions of his country, and thence became the 
victim of an accusation of impiety. (See Section Xlll, § 6.) 

6. The morality of Socrates was successfully cultivatea by the 
Cyrenaic sect, but was pushed to extravagance by the Cynics. V^ir- 
tue, in their opinion, coiisisted in renouncing all the conveniences of 
life. They clothed themselves in rags, slept and ate in the streets, 
or wandered about the country with a stick and a knapsack. They 
condemned all knowledge as useless. Tliey associated impudence 
with ignorance, and indulged themselves in scurrihty and invective 
\vilhout restraint. 

7. The Megarian sect was the happy inventor of logical syllogism, 
or t,Ue„art of quibbling. 

8vU'latp was the iounder of the Academic sect : a philosopher, 
whose doctrines have liad a more extensive empire over the minds 
of mankind, than those of any other among the ancients. This is in 
])art owing to their intrinsic merit, and in part to the eloquence with 
%vhich they have been propounded. Plato had the most sublime 
ideas of the Divinity and his attributes. 1 Ic taught that the human 
soul w;is a portion of the Divinity, and that (his alliance with the 
eternal mind might be improved inlo actual intercourse with the 
Supreme Boing, by abstracting the soul tVom all the corruptions 
w hich it derives Irom the body : a doctrine highly flattering to the 
pride of man, and generating that mystical enthusiasm which hastlie 
most powerful empire over a warm imagination. 

9. Tiie Platonic philosophy found its chief opjionents in four re- 
markable sects, the Peripatetic, the Sceptic, the Stoic, and the Epi- 
cureao.-- 

10. Aristotle^the founder of the Peripatetic s^ct, was the tutor of 
Alexander the great, and established his school in the Lyceum at 
Athens: a philosopher whose tenets have found more zealous parti- 
>^an3 and more rancorous opponents, than those of any other. His 
Metaphysics, irom the sententious brevity of his expression, are ex- 
tremely obscure, and have given rise to numberless commentaries. 
The best analysis of his doctrines is given by Dr. Reid, in Lord 
Karnes's Sketches of the History of Man. His'physical works are 
the result of great observation and acquaintance with nature; and his 
critical writings, as his Poetics and Art of Rhetoric, display both taste 
and judgment. The pecuhar passion of Aristotle was that of classi- 
fying, arranging, and combining the objects of his knowledge, so as to 
reduce all to a few principles : a very dangerous propensity in phi- 
losophy, anil repressive of improvement in science. 

11. The Sceptical sect was founded I)y Pyrrho. They formed no^ 
systems of their own, hut endeavoured to weaken the foundations of 
those of all others. They inculcated universal doubt, an the only true 
wisdom. There was, in their opinion, no essential difference be- 
tween vice and virtue, further than as human compact had discrim- 
inated tliL'm. Tranquillity of mind they supposed to be the state of 
the greatest happiness, and this was to be attained by absolute mdit^ 
ference to all dogmas or opinions. 

12. The Stoics, proposing to themselves the same end, tranquillity 
of mind, took a nobler path to arrive at it They endeavoured to 
raise themselves above all the passions and feelings of humanity. 
They believed all nature, and God himself, the soul of the universe, 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 40 

to be regulated by fixed and immutable laws. The human soul be- 
ing a portion of the Divinity, man cannot complain of being actuated 
by that necessity which actuates the Divinity himseh". His pains and 
his pleasures are determined by the same laws which determine his 
existence. Virtue consists in accommodating the disposition of the 
mind to the immutable laws of nature ; vice in o})posing those laws : 
vice therefore is folly, and virtue the only true wisdom. A beautiful 
picture of the Stoical philosophy is found in the Meditations of M. 
Aurelius Antoninus. (See Madan's Translation.) 

13. Epicurus taught that man's supreme happiness consisted in 
pleasure. He limited the term, so as to make it mean only the prac- 
tice of virtue. But if pleasure is allowed to be the object, every 
man will draw it fi'om those sources which he finds can best supply 
it. it might have been the pleasure of Epicurus to be chaste and 
temperate. We are told that it was so. But others iind their pleas- 
ure in intemperance and luxury, and such was the taste of his princi- 
pal followers. Epicurus held that the Deity was indifl'erent to all tlie 
actions of man. His followers therefore had no otlier counsellor 
than their own conscience, and no other guide tiian the instinctive 
desire of their own happiness. 

14. The Greek philosophy, on the whole, .affords little more than 
a picture of the imbecility and caprice of the human mind. Its 
teachers, instead of experiment and observation, satisfied themselves 
with constructing theories ; and these wanting fact lor their basis, 
have only served to perplex the vmderstanding, and retard equally 
the advancement of sound morality and the progress of useful knowl- 
edge. 

SECTION XXIV. 
THE HISTORY OF ROME. 

1. In the delineation of ancient history, Rome, after the conquest 
of Greece, hecomes the leading object of attention. The history of 
thisrempire, in its progress to universal dominion, and afterwards in its 
decline and fall, involves a collateral account of all the other na- 
tions of antiquity, which in those periods are deserving of our con- 
sideration. 

2. Though we cannot determine the sera when Italy was first peo- 
pled, yet we have every reason to believe that it was inhabited by 
a refined and cultivated natioo,^ many ages before the Roman nanrc 
was known. These were^he Etruscans, of whom there exist at 
this day monuments in the tine arts, which prove them to have been 
a splendid, luxurious, and highly poUshed people. ^Their alphabet, 
resembling the Phoenician, disposes us to believe tliem of eastern 
origin. '1 he Roman historians mention them as a powerful and opu- 
lent nation long before the origin of Rome ; and Dionysius of Hali- 
carnassus deduces most of the reUgious rites of the Romans from 
Etruria. 

3. The rest of Italy was divided among a number of independent 
tribes or nations, comparatively in a rude and uncultivated state; 
Umbrians, Ligurians, Sabines, Veientes, Latins, i'Equi, Volsci, &,c. 
Latium, a territory of fifty miles in length and sixteen in brcadtli^ 
contained forty-seven independent cities or states. 

4. The origin of (he city and state of Rome is involved in great 
uncertainty. Dionysius supposes t>vo cities of that name to have 

V. 1 



50 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

existed, and to have perished before the foundation of the city built 
by Romulus. The vulgar account of the latter is, that it was 
founded 752 A. C. by a troop of shepherds or banditti, who peo- 
pled their new city by carrying off the wives and daughters of tneir 
neighbours, the Sabines. 

5. Tlie great outlines of the first constitution of the Roman govern- 
ment, though generally attributed to the political abilities of Romu- 
lus, seem to have a natural foundation in the usages of barbarous 
nations. Other institutions bear the traces of political skill and posi- 
tive enactment. 

6. Romulus is said to have divided his people into three tribes, and 
each tribe into ten citrice. The lands he distributed into three por- 
tions ; one for the support of the government, another for the main- 
tenance of religion, and the third for the use of the Roman citizens, 
which he divided into equal portions of two acres to each citizen. 
He instituted a senate of 100 members (afterwards increased to 200,) 
who deliberated on and prepared all public measures for the assembly 
of the people, in whom was vested the right of determination. The 
partrician families were the descendants of those centum patres (/iwn- 
aredfathers). 

7. The king had the nomination of the senators, the privilege of 
assembling the people, and a right of appeal in all questions of in> 
portance. He had the command of the army, and the office of pmt^ 
tifex maximus {high priest). He had, as a guard, twelve lictors, and 
a troop of horsemen named celeres., or equites^ afterwards the distinct 
order of Roman knights. These regulations are of positive institu- 
tion : others arose naturally from the state of society. 

8. The patria potestas {jmternal authority) is of the latter nature, be- 
ing common to all barbarous tribes. The limitation of all arts to the 
slaves arose from the constant employment of the citizens in warfare 
or in agriculture. 

9. The connexion of* patron and client was an admirable institu- 
tion, which at once united the citizens, and maintained a useful sub- 
ordination. 

10. The Sabines were the most formidable enemy of the early 
Romans ; and a wise policy united for a while the two nations into 
one state. After the death of Romulus, who reigned thirty-seven 
years, Numa, a Sabine, was elected king. His disposition was pious 
and pacific, and he endeavoured to give his people the same charac- 
ter. He pretended to divine inspiration, to give the greater authori- 
ty to his laws, which in themselves were excellent. He multiplied 
the national gods, built temples, and instituted different classes of 
priests, Jiamines^ salii, &,c., and a variety of religious ceremonies. 
The flamines othciated each in the service of a particular deity ; the 
salii guarded the sacred bucklers ; the vestals cherished the sacred 
fire ; the augurs and aruspices divined future events from the flight 
of birds, and the euti'ails of victims. The temple of Janus was open 
in war, and shut during peace. Numa reformed tlie calendar, regu- 
lating the year at twelve lunar months, and distinguished the days 
for civil occupation {/asti) from those dedicated to religious rest 
{nefasti). Agriculture was lawful on the latter, as a duty of religion, 
Numa reigned forty-three years. 

11. Tullus Hostilius, the third king of Rome, of warlike disposi- 
tion, subdued the Albans, B'idenates, and other neighbouring states. 
The Sabines, now disunited from the Romans, were among the most 
powerful of their enemies. Tullus reigned thirty three years. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 51 

12. Ancus Martius, the grandson of Numa, was elected king oa 
the death of Tullus. He hiherited the piety and virtues of his grand- 
father, and joined to these the talents of a warrior. He increased 
the population of Rome, by naturalizing some of the conquered 
states ; enlarged and fortified the city, and built the port of Ostia at 
the mouth of the Tiber. He reigned gloriously twenty-four years. 

13. Tarquinius Priscus, a citizen of Corinth, popular from his 
wealth and liberality, Was elected to the vacant throne. He enlarg- 
ed the senate by 100 new members from the plebeian families, jjoires 
tmnorum gentium {the fathers of the less families). This body consisted 
now of 3U0, at which number it remained for some centuries. Tar- 
quin was victorious in his wars, and adorned and improved the city 
with works of utility and magnificence. Such were the circus or 
hippodrome, the walls of hewn stone ; the capitol ; the cloacae, those 
immense common sewers, wliich lead to the belief that the new 
Rome had been built on the ruins of an ancient city of greater mag- 
nitude. Tarquinius was assassinated in the thirty-eighth year of his 
reign. 

14. Servius Tullius, who had married the daughter of Tarquinius, 
secured, by his own address and the intrigues of his mother-in-law, 
his election to the vacant throne. He courted popularity by acts of 
munificence ; discharging the debts of the poor, dividing among the 
citizens his patrimonial lands, improving the city with useful edifices, 
and extending its boundaries. The new arrangement which he in- 
troduced in the division of the Roman citizens is a proof of much po- 
litical abihty, and merits attention, as on it depended many of the 
revolutions of the republic. 

1 5. From the time that the Romans had admitted the Albans and 
Sabines to the rights of citizens, the urban and rustic tribes were 
composed of those three nations. Each tribe being divided into ten 
curicc, and every curia having an equal vote in the comitia, as each 
individual had in his tribe, all questions were decided by the majority 
of suffrages. There was no pre-eminence between the curicE, and 
the order in which they gave their votes was determined by lot. 
This was a reasonable constitution, so long as the fortunes of the 
citizens were nearly on a par; but, when riches came to be une- 
qually divided, it was obvious that much inconvenience must have 
arisen from this equal partition of power, as the rich could easily, by 
bribery, command the suffrages of the poor. Besides, all the taxes 
had hitherto been levied by the head, without any regard to the in- 
equality of fortunes. These obvious defects furnished to Servius a 
just pretext for an entire change of system. His plan was, to remove 
the poorer citizens from all share of the government, while the 
bm'dens attending its support should fall solely on the rich. 

16. All the citizens were required, under a heavy penalty, to de- 
clare upon oath their names, dwellings, number of their children, 
and amount of their fortune. After this numeration or census, Ser- 
vius divided the whole citizens, without distinction, into four tribes, 
named, from the quarters where they dwelt, the Palatine, Suburran, 
Collatine, and Esquiline. Beside this local division, Servius distribut- 
ed the whole people into six classes, and each class into several 
centuries or portions of citizens so called, not as actually consisting 
of a hundred, but as being obliged to furnish and maintain 100 men 
in time of war. In the first class, which consisted of the richest citi- 
zens, or those who were worth at least 100 mince (about 300/. ster- 
ling), there were no less than ninety-eight centuries. In the second 



52 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

€lass (those worth 75 inince) there were twenty-two centuries. In 
the third (those worth 50 mince) were twenty centuries. In the 
fourth (those worth 25 mince) twenty-two centuries. In the fifth 
(those worth 12 mince) thirty centuries. The sixth, the most nu- 
merous of the whole, comprehending all the poorer citizens, furnish- 
ed only one century. Thus the whole Roman people were divided 
into 193 centuries, or portions of citizens, so called, as furnishing 
each a hundred soldiers. The sixth class was declared exempt from 
taxes. The other classes, according to the number of centuries of 
which they consisted, were rated for the public burdens at so much 
ibr each century. 

17. The poor had no reason to complain of this arrangement ; but 
something was wanting to compensate the rich for the burdens to 
which they were subjected. For this purpose Servius enacted, that 
henceforth the comitia should give their votes by centuries ; the first 
class, consisting of ninety-eight centuries, always voting first. Thus, 
though the whole people were called to the comitia^ and all seemed 
to have an equal suffrage, yet in reality the richer classes determin- 
ed every question, the suffrage of the poor being merely nominal; 
for as the whole people formed 193 centuries, and the first and second 
classes contained 120 of these, if they were unanimous, which gen- 
«^rally happened in questions of importance, a majority was secured. 
Thus, in the comitia centuriata {assemblies in which the people voted by 
rcnturies), in which the chief magistrates were elected, peace and 
war decreed, and all other important business discussed, the richer 
classes of the citizens had the sole authority, the votes of the poor 
being of no avail. And such was the ingenuity of this policy, that all 
were pleased with it : the rich paid their taxes with cheerfulness, as 
the price of their power; and the poor gladly exchanged authority 
for immunities. 1 he census, performed every five years, was closed 
by a lustrum, or expiatory sacrifice ; and hence that period of time 
was called a lustrum. 

18. Servius was assassinated, afler a reign, of forty-four years, by 
his infamous daughter Tullia, married to TaVquinius, the grandson 
of Priscus, who thus paved the way for his own elevation to the 
throne. The government of Tarquin, sumamed the proud, was sys- 
tematically tyrannical. He ingratiated himself with the lower orders, 
10 abase by their means the power of the higher; but, insolent, ra- 
pacious, and cruel, he finally disgusted all ra5is of his subjects, A 
rape committed by his son Sextus on Lucretia, the wife of CoUalinns, 
who, unable to survive her dishonour, stabbed herself in pre^fO(;e oi 
her husband and kindred, roused their vengeance, and procind. by 
their influence with their countrymen, the expulsion of the tvraut,. 
and the utter abolition of the regal dignity at Rome, 509 A. C. 

Reflections on the Government and State of Rome during the period of 

the kings. 

19. The whole structure of the constitution of the Romans under 
the monarchy has been by most authors erroneously attributed ex- 
clusively to the abilities of Romulus, a youth of eighteen, the leader 
of a troop of shepherds or banditti. This chimerical idea we owe to 
Dionysius of Halicarnassus. The truth is, the Roman government,' 
like almost every other, was the gradual result of circumstances j 
the fruit of time, and of political emergency. 

20. The constitution of the Roman senat^has occasioned consider* 

) 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 53 

able research, and is not free from obscurity. It is probable that the 
kings had the sole right of naming the senators, that the consuls suc- 
ceeded them in this right, and afterwards, when these magistrates 
found too much occupation from the frequent wars in which the state 
was engaged, that privilege devolved on the censors. The senators 
were at tirst always chosen from the body of the patricians, but after- 
wards the plebeians acquired an equal title to that dignity. In the 
early periods of the republic the people could not be assembled but 
by the senate's authority ; nor were the plebiscita {decrees of the peo- 
ple) of any weight till confirmed by their decree. Hence the early 
constitution of the republic was rather aristocratical than democrat- 
ical. From this, extensive power of the senate the first diminution 

' was made by ..the creation of the tribunes of the people ; and other 
retrenchments successively took place, till the people acquired at 
length the predominant power in the state. Yet the senate, even 
after every usurpation on their authority, continued to have, in many 

, points, a supremacy. They regulated all matters regarding religion; 
had the custody of the public treasure ; superintended the conduct of 
all magistrates ; gave audience to ambassadors; decided on the fate of 
vanquished nations ; disposed of the governments of the provinces ; 
and took cognizance, by appeal, in all crimes against the state. In 
great emergencies they appointed a dictator, with absolute authority. 

21. At the period of the abolition of the regal government the ter- 
ritory of the Romans was extremely limited. The only use which 
they made of their victories \vas to naturalize the inhabitants of 

, some of the conqueredstates,andso increase their population:) Thus, 
their strength being always superior to their enterprise, tliey laid a 
solid foundation for the future extension of their empire. 

22. In the accounts given by historians of the strength of the ar- 
« mies, both of the Romans in those early times, and of the neighbour- 
ing states, their enemies, we have every reason to believe there is 
much exaggeration. The territories from which those armies were 
furnished were incapable of supplying them. 

23. In the continual wars in which the republic was engaged the 
t Romans were most commonly the^ aggressors. The causes of this 

seem to have been the ambition of the consuls to distinguish their 
Y short administration by some splendid enterprise, and the wish of the 

senate to give the people occupation, to prevent intestine disquiets. 

),. 24. The regal government subsisted, 244 years, and in that time 

:, only seven kings reigned, several of whom died a violent death. 

T^hese circumstances throw doubt on the authenticity of this iJeriod 

' of the Roman history. It is allowed that there were no historians for 

the five first centuries after the building of Rome. The first is 

Fabius Piclor, who lived during the second Punic war. Livy says 

that almost all the ancient records were destroyed when Rome was 

• taken by the Gauls. 



SECTION XXV. 

ROME UNDER THE CONSULS. 

1. The regal government being abolished, it was agreed to commit 

,jthe supreme authority to two magistrates, who should be annually 

elected by the people from the patrician order. To these they gave 

the names of comuks ; " a modest title, (says Vertot), which gave to 



54 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

understand that they %vere rather the counsellors of the republic than 
its sovereigns ; and that the only point which they ouglit to have in 
view was its preservation and giory." But, in fact, their authority 
differed scarcely in any thing from that of the kings. They had 
the supreme administi'ation of justice, the disposal of the public 
money, the power of convoking the senate and assembling the peo- 
ple, raising armies, naming all the ofhcers, and the right of making 
fieace and war. 1 he only difference was, that their authority was 
imited to a year. 

2. The first consuls were Brutus and CoUatinus, ,(the husband of 
Lucretia). Tarquin was at this time in Etruria, where he got two of 
the most powerful cities. Veil and Tarquinii, to espouse his cause. 
He had likewise his partisans at Rome, and a plot was formed to 
open the gates lo receive him. It was detected, and Brutus had 
the mortification to find his two sons in the number of the conspira- 
tors. He condemned them to be beheaded in his presence. Exuit 
patrcm iit considem ageret ; orbiisque vivere, mam pubhc(£ viiidiclw deessc 
■mnluit. Val. Max. He ceased to be a father.^ that he might execute the 
duties of a consul ; and chose to live childless railier than to neglect the 
jruHic punishment of a crime. 

3. The consul Valerius, successful in an engagement with the ex- 
iled Tarquin, was the first Roman who enjoyed the splendid reward 
of a triumph. Arrogant from his recent honours, his popularity be- 
gan to decline ; and, in a view of recovering it, he proposed the law, 
termed from him the Valerian, which " permitted any citizen who 
had been condemned to death by a magistrate, or even to banish- 
ment or scourging, to appeal to the people, and required their con- 
.*ient previously to the execution of the sentence.'^ This law gave 
the first blow to the aristocracy in the constitution of the Roman re- 
public. 

4. For thirteen years after the expulsion of Tarquin, the Romans, 
were involved in continual wars on his account. Of these the most , 
I'eniarkable was the war with the Etrurians, under Porsena ; a war 
lertile in exploits of romantic heroism. 

5. Soon after this period began those domestic disorders, which 
• ontinued long to embroil the republic. Great complaints had arisen 
among the poorer classes of the citizens, both on account of the ine- 
quality of property, from the partial distribution of the conquei^ed. 
lands, which the higher ranks generally contrived to engross lo IheTn- 
selves, and from the harsh policy by which it was in the power of 
creditors to reduce to a state of slaveiy their insolvent debtors. As 
there was no legal restraint on usury, the poor, when once reduced 
to the necessity of contracting debts, were left entirely at the mercy 
of their credhors. These grievances, felt in common by a large pro- 
portion of the citizens, excited much discontent, which, from com- 
plaints long disregarded, grew at length into a spirit of determined 
resistance. The wars required new levies, and the plebeians posi- 
tively refused to enrol their names, unless the senate should put an 
end to their oppression, by decreeing at once an abolition of all the 
debts due by the poor to the rich. The emergency was critical, as 
the enemy was at the gates of Rome. The consuls found their au- 
thority of no avail ; for the Valerian law had given any citizen con- 
demned by them a right of appeal to the people. An extraordinary 
measure was necessary, and a dictator was created for the first lime j 1 
a magistrate who, for the period of six months, was invested with 
absolute and unlimited authority. Lartius, nominated to this high 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 55 

office, armed the twenty-four lictors with axes, summoned the whole 
people to the comitia, and calling over the names, under the penalty 
of death to any citizen who should dare to murmur, enrolled all such 
as he judged most tit for the service of their country. This expedi- 
ent became henceforward a frequent and certain resource in all sea- 
sons of public danger. 

6. The death of Tarquin removed one check against the tyi'anny 
of the higher over the lower orders ; for the latter had hitherto kept 
alive a salutary apprehension, that, in case of extreme oppression, 
they would be under the necessity of calling back their king. When 
this fear was at an end, the domineering spirit of the patncians, ex- 
ceeding every bound both of good policy and humanity, drove the 
people at length to deeds of mutiny and rebellion. An alarm from 
the enemy gave full weight to their power, and made the chief magis- 
trates of the state solemnly engage their honour to procure a re- 
dress of their grievances, as soon as the public danger was at an end. 
The promise, either from a failure of will or of power, was not ful- 
filled, and this violation of faith drove the people at length to ex- 
tremities. Bound by their military oath not to desert their standards, 
they carried them along with them ; and the whole army, in military 
array, withdrew from Rome, and deliberately encamped on the Mons 
Sacer, at three miles distance from the city; and here they were soon 
joined by the greater part of the people. This resolute procedure 
had its desired eU'ect. Tlie senate deputed ten persons, the most re- 
spectable of their order, Avith plenary powers; and these, seeing na 
medium of compromise, granted to the people all their demands, 
Tiie debts were solemnly abolished ; and, for the security of their 
privileges in future, they were allowed the right of choo'-iiig magis- 
trates of their o^vii order, who should have the power of opposing 
with effect every measure which they (should judge prcjuaicial to 
tiieir interests. These were the tribimej of the people, chosen annu- 
ally ; at first five in number, and ai'terw.mls incx'eased to ten. With- 
out guards or tribunal, and having no seat in the senate-house, they 
hnd yet the power, by a single veto^ to suspend or annul the decrees 
of the senate and tli-i sentences of the consuls. Their persons were 
declared sacred, but their authority was confined to the limits of a 
mile from tiie city. The tribunes demanded and obtained two magis- 
trates to assist them, who were termed asdiles, from the charge com- 
mitted to them of the buildings of the city. 

7. From this aera (260 years from the foundation of Rome) we date 
the commencement of the popular constitution of the Roman repub- 
lic: a change operated by the unwise policy of the patricians them- 
selves, who, by yielding to just complaints, and humanely redressing 
flagrant abuses, might have easily anticipated every ground of dis- 
satisfaction. The first v/ish of the people was not power, but relief 
from tyranny and oppression ; and if this had been readily granted 
them by abolishing the debts, or at least by repressing enormous 
usury, and putting an end to the inhuman right of corporal punish- 
ment and the bondage of" debtors, the people would have cheerfully 
returned to order and submission, and the Roman constitution would 
have long remained aristocratical, as we have seen it was at the com- 
mencement of the consular government. But the plebeians having 
now obtained magistrates of their own order with those high powers, 
we shall see it become the object of those magistrates to increase 
their authority l)y continual demands and bold encroachments. Tiie 
people, regarding them as the champions of tiieir riglits, are delight- 



56 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

ed to find themselves gradually approaching to a level with the 
higher order ; and, no longer bounding then- desires to ease and se- 
curity, are soon equally influenced by ambition as their sups^riors. 
While this people, borne down by injustice, seek no more than the 
redress of real grievances, we sympathize with their feelings, and 
applaud their spirited exertions. But when they had at length com- 
passed the end which they wished, obtained ease and seciirity, nay, 
power which they had neither sought nor expected ; when we see 
them, after this, increasing in their demands, assuming that arrogance 
which they justly blamed in their superiors, goaded on by the am- 
bition of their leaders to tyrannize in their turn ; we view with 
proper discrimination the love of liberty and its extreme licentious- 
ness ; and treat with just detestation the authors of those pernicious 
measures, which embroiled the state in endless faction, and paved the 
way for the total loss of that liberty, of which this deluded people 
knew not the value when they actually possessed it. 



SECTION XXVI. 

THE LAW OF VOLERO. 

1 . The disorders of the commonwealth, appeased by the creation 
of tlie tribunes, were but for a time suspended. It was necessar]^ 
that the popular magistrates should make an experiment of their 
powers. In an assemoly of the people one of the consuls, interrupt- 
ed by a tribune, rashly said, that if the tribunes had called that assem-^ 
bly, he would not have interrupted them. This was a concession on' 
the part of the consuls, that the tribunes had the power of assem- 
bling the comitia, which, from that moment, they assumed as their 
acknowledged right. .It was a consequence of tbis right, that th>e 
aft'airs of the commonwealth should be agitated in those meetings, 
equally as in the assem.blies held in virtue of a consular summons, or 
senatorial decree, and thus there were, in a manner, two distinct 
legislative powers established in the republic. 

2. The trial of Coriolanus for inconsiderately proposing the aboli- 
tion ofjhe tribunate, an ofi'ence interpreted to be treason against the 
stated threw an additional weight into the scale of the people. The 
proposal of an agrarian law, for the division of the lands acquired by 
recent conquests, resumed at intervals, though never carried into 
execution, inflamed the passions of the rival orders. 

3. Publius Volero, formerly a centurion, and a man distinguished 
for his military services, had, in the new levies, been ranked as a 
common soldier. Complaining of this unmerited degradation, he re- 
fused his services in that capacity ; and the consuls having con- 
demned him to corporal punishment, he appealed from their sen- 
tence to the people. The contest lasted till tne annual terai of elec- 
tions, when Volero himself was chosen a tribune of the people. He 
had an ample revenge, by procuring the enactment of a most impor- 
tant law. The comitia by centuries and by curiae could be called 
only in virtue of a decree of the senate, after consulting the auspices ; 
and in those comitia the tribxmes had hitherto been elected, and the 
most important public aftaii^ discussed. It was decreed by the lav7 
of Volero, that the election of the tribunes should be made, and the 
chief public business henceforward discussed, in the comitia held by 
tribes, which were unfettered by any of those restraints. From this 



ANCIENT HISTORY. B7 

period the supreme authority in the Roman republic may be consid- 
ered as having passed, completely from the higher order into the 
hands of the people. The Roman constitution was now plainly a 
democracy, 471_4:jCj, 



SECTION XXVII. 

THE DECEMVIRATE. 

1. The Romans had, till this period, no body of civil laws. — Under 
,the regal government the kings alone administered justice; the 

consuls succeeded them in this high prerogative, and thus possessed 
without control the absolute command of the fortunes and civil rights 
of all the citizens. To remedy this great defect, Terentillus, a tri- 
bune, proposed the nomination of ten commissioners^ to frame and 

' digest a code of laws for the explanation and security of the rights 
of all orders of the state. A measure so equitable ought to have met 
with no opposition. IF was, however, streniiously opposed by the 
patricians, who, by a fruitless contest, only exposed their own weak- 

-ness. The decemviri were chosen ; but the election being made in 
the comitia by centuries, the consul Appius Claudius, with his col- 
league, were at the head of this important commission. The laws 
mere framed, those celebrated statutes known by the name of the 

^rwelve Tables, which, are the basis of the great structure of the 
itoman jurisprudence^ 4ol A. C. 

2. An acquaintance with tliese ancient laws is therefore of impor- 
tance. Even in the most flourishing times of the republic they con- 
tinued to be of the highest authority. They have th€ encomium of 
Cicero himself; and we learn from him, that to commit these laws 
to memory was an essential part of a liljeral education. From the 

-^twelve tables the juriscortsulti composed a system of judicial forms, 
for the regulation of the different tribunals. The number of the 
^laws was likewise from time to time increased by the setuituscmisulta 
and plebiscita. 

I 3. The decemvirs were invested with all the pawers of govern- 
ment, for the consulate had ceased On their creation.^ Each decem- 
vir by turn presided for a day, and had the sovereign authority, with 
its insignia, the fasces. The' nine others officiated solely as judges 
in the determination of lawsuits, and the correction of abuses. An 
^abuse, however, of the most flagrant nature, committed by the chief 
of their own number, was destined speedily to bring their ofKce to 
its termination. 

■^' 4. Appius Claudius, inflamed by lawless passion for the young 
♦Virginia, the betrothed spouse of Icilius, fonnerly a tribune of the 
people, employed a profligate dependant to claim the maiden as his 
own property, on the false pretence of her being the daughter of 
I one of his female slaves. The claim was made to the decemvir 
(Jiimself in judgment, v.^ho pronounced an infamous decree, which 
j tore from her family this helpless victim, and put her into the hands 
j pf his own minion. Her father, to save the honour of his child, 
1 plunged a dagger into her breast ; and the people, witnesses of this 
{ shocking scene, would have m;jssacred Appius on the spot, if he had 
l*ftot fouad means to escape amidst the tumult. Their vengeance, 
however, was satiated by the instant abolition of this hated magis- 
tracy, and by the death of Appius, who chose by his own hand to 

8 



58 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

prevent the stroke of the executioner. The decemvirate had sub* 
sisted for three years. The consuls were now restored, together 
with the tribunes of the people, 449 A. C. 

SECTION XXVIII. 
INCREASE OF THE POPULAR POWER. 

1 . The scale of tlie people was daily acquiring weight, at the ex- 
pense of that of the highest order. Two barriers, however, slill 
separated the patricians and plebeians : one, a law which prevented 
their intermarriage, and the other, the constitutional limitation of all 
the higher offices to the order of the patriciatis: It was only neces- 
sary to remove these restrictions, and the patriciims and plebeians 
were on a footing of periect equality. The first, after a long but 
fruitless contest, was at length agreed to by the senate ; and this 
concession had its usual effect of stimulating the people to inflexible 
perseverance in their struggle for the latter. Ou an emergence of 
war the customary device was practised, of refusing to enter the 
rolls, unless upon the immediate enactment of a law, which should 
admit their capacity of holding all the offices of the republic. The 
senate sought a palliative, by the creation of six military tribunes in 
lieu of the consuls, three of whom should be patricians, and three 
plebeians. This measure satisfied the people for a time : the consuls, 
however, were soon restored. 

2. The disorders of the republic, and frequent wars, had inter- 
rupted the regular survey of the citizens. This was remedied by 
the creation of a new magistracy. Two officers, under the title of 

rcensoi"s, were appointed (437 A. C.J, whose duty was not only to 
^ make the ccimis every five years, out to inspect the morals, and 
regulate the duties of all the citizens : an office of dignity equal to 
its importance, exercised, in the latter times of the republic, only by 
consular persons, and afterwards annexed to the supreme functions 
of the emperors. 

3. The dissensions between the orders continued, v.'ith little varia- . 
lion either in their causes or effects. The people generally, as the 
last resource, refused to enrol themselves, till overawed by the 
supreme authority of a dictator. To obviate the frequent necessity 
of this measure, which enforced at best an unwilling und compelled 
obedience, the senate had recourse to a wise expedient ; this was, 
to give a. regular pay to the troops. To defray this expense a mod- 
erate tax was imposed in proportion to the fortunes of^ the citizens. 
From this period the Romun system of war assumed a new aspect. 
The senate always found soldiers at command ; the army was under 
its control ; the enterprises of the republic were more extensive, 
and its successes moi-e signal and important. V eii, the proud rival 
of Rome, and its equal in extent and population, was taken by Camil- 
lus, after a siege of ten years, A. U. C. 396. The art of war was 
improved, as it now became a profession, instead of an occasional 
occupation. The Romans were, frum this circumstance, an over- 
match for all their neighbours. Their dominion, hitherto confined 
to the territory of a few miles, was now raj<i(ily extended. It was 
impossible but that the detached states of Itaiy must have given way 
before a people who were always in amis, and, by a perseverance 
alike resolute and judicious, were equal to eveiy attempt in which I 
they engaged. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 59 

4. The taking of Veil was succeeded by a war with the Gaulg. 
This people, a branch of the great nation of the Celtae, had opened 
to themselves a passage through the Alps at four diftierent periods, 
and were at this time established in the country between those 
mountains and the Appenines. Under the command of Brennus they 
laid siege to the Etruscan Clusium ; and the people, of no warlike 
turn themselves^ solicited the aid of the Romans. The circumstan- 
ces recorded ol this war with the Gauls throw over it a cloud of 
fable and romance. The formidable power of Rome is said to have 
been, in a single campaign, so utterly exhausted, that the Gauls en- 
tered the city without resistance, and burnt it to the ground, 385 A. 

, C. Though thus overpowered, the Romans, in a single engagement, 
retrieve ail their losses, and in one day's time there is not a Gaul 
left remaining within the Roman territory. 

To the burning of the city by the GaulSj.Uhe Roman writers attri- 
bute the loss of all the records and monuments of their early history. 

. - 6. It is singular, that most of the Roman revolutions should have 

^owed their origin to women. . From this cause we have seen spring 
Hie abolition of the regal office and the decemvirate. From this 
cause arose the change of the constitution, by which the plebeians 

• became capable of holding the highest offices of the commonwealth. 
The younger daughter of Fabius Ambustus, married to a plebeian, 
envious ot the honours of her elder sister, the wife of a patrician, 
stimulated her father to rouse the lower order to a resolute purpose 
of asserting their equal right with the patricians to all the offices and 
dignities of the state. After much turbulence and contest the tinal 
issue was the admission of the plebeians, tirst to the consulate, and 
afterwards to the censorship, the praetorship, and priesthood (A. U. 
C. 454, and A. C. 300) . a change beneficial in the main, as consoli- 
dating the strength of the republic, and cutting off the principal source 
of intestine disorder. The factions of the state had hitherto confined 

^the growth of its power, its splendour, and prosperity ; for no state 
can at once be prosperous ancl anarchical. We shall now mark the 
rapid elevation of the Roman name and empire. 



SECTION XXIX. 

CONQUEST OF ITALY BY THE ROMANS. 

1. The war with the Samnites now began, and was of long contin- 
uance ; but its successful termination was speedily followed by the 
reduction of all the states of Italy. In the course of this important 
war the Tarentines, the allies of the Samnites, sought the aid of 
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, one of the greatest generals of his age. Pyrr- 
hus landed in Italy with 30,000 men and a train of elephants, 280 A. 
C. He was at first successful, but no longer so than till a short ex- 

{lerience reconciled the Romans to a new mode of war. Sensible at 
. ength of the difficulties of his enterprise, and dreading a fatal issue, 
he embraced an invitation from the Sicilians to aid them in a war 
with Carthage. On this pretext, which at least was not dishonoura- 
ble, Pyrrhus withdrew his troops from Italy. In this interval the 
Romans reduced to extremity the Samnites, the Tarentines, and the 
f)ther allied states. Pyrrhus returned, and made a last effort near 
Beneventum. He was' totally defeated, lost 26,000 men, and aban- 
doning at once all further views to Italy, returned with precipitation 



60 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

to his own dominions, 274 A. C. The hostile states submitted to the 
victorious power; and Rome, 480 years from the foundation of the 
city, was now mistress of ail Italy. 

2. The policy phserved by the Rom^ms, with respect to the con- 
quered nations, was wise and judicious. They removed to Rome 
all the leading men of the principal conquered cities, admitting them 
into the ancient urban and rustic tribes, and thus soothing the pride of 
the vanquished, by giving them an apparent share in their own do- 
mestic government; while, in arranging tiie constitution of the cities, 
they tilled their magistracies with illustrious Romans, whose abilities 
and inliuence were litted to maintain those new provinces in alle- 
giance to the Roman government. 

3. Sicily had long been considered the granary of Italy. The 
Carthaginians at this time possessed considerable settlements in the 
island, and were ambitious of acquiring its entire dominion. An ob- 
vious policy led the Romans to dispute vvjth them this important ac- 
quisition, and gave rise to the Punic wars. This leads, by a natural 
connexion, to a short view of the history of Carthage and of Sicily. 



SECTION XXX.. 

HISTORY OF CARTHAGE. 

1. Carthage, according to the most probable accounts, was founded 
by a colony ot Tyrians, about seventy years before the building of 
IlonrreT The colony had the same language, the same or nearly 
similar laws and constitution, the same national character, with the 
parent state. Theciiy of Carthage was, at the period of the Punic 
wars, one of the most splendid in the world, and had under its domin- 
ion 300 of the smaller cities of Africa bordering on the Mediterranean 
sea. -' 

"2. The constitution of the republic is celebrated by Aristotle as 
one of the most perfect of the governmetits of antiquity ; but-,we 
know little more t'lan its general nature from ancient writers. Two 
m igistrates, named svffetes, annually chosen, seem to have possessed 
powers akin to those of the Roman consuls; and the Carthaginian 
senate to those of the senate of Rome; with this remarkable ditfer- 
ence, that, in the former, unanimity of opinion was requisite in all 
measures of importance. A divided senate transmitted the business 
to the assembly of the people. A tribunal of 104 judges took cog- 
nizance of military operations, and of the conduct of their generals. 
A supei'ior council ot live seems to have controled the decisions of 
the larger tribunal. Two peculiarities of the Carthaginian policy 
have been censured by Aristotle. One peculiarity was, that the same 
person might hold several employments or otiices in the state ; the 
other that the poor were debarred from all oflices of trust or import- 
ance. But the former of these is frequently both expedient and 
necessary, and the latter seems agreeable to the soundest policy ; lor 
in offices of trust poverty offers too powerful an incitement to devia-; 
tion from duty. 

3. The first settlements made by the Carthaginians were entirely! 
in the vvay of commerce. Trading to the coast of Spain for gold, 
they built Carlhagena and Gades : and coasting along the western 
shore of Africa, they had estal>lis:tments for the same purpose as lar' 
as the .?5th degree of north latitude. The Peripks of Hanno affords 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 61 

a proof of ardent enterprise and policy. Desirous of extending a 
limited territory they armed against tiie Mauritanians, Numidians, 
and all the neighbouring nations ; employing mercenary troops, 
which they levied, not only in Africa, but in Spain, the two Gauls, 
and Greece. 

4. The annals of the Carthaginian state are little known till their 
wars with the Romans. The first of their wars mentioned in history 
is that with the Greek colonies of Sicily. Darius courted their alii 
ance when he meditated the conquest of Greece ; and Xerxrs re 
newed that treaty when he followed out the designs of his father. 



SECTION XXXI. 

HISTORY OF SICILY. 

1. The early periods of the history of Sicily are as little knoivn aa 
those of Carthage. The Phoenicians had sent colonies to Sicily be 
fore the Trojan war. The Greeks, in afier times, made considerable 
settlements in the island. The Corinthians' founded Syracuse, which 
became the most illustrious Tjf the Greek cities of Sicily ; and from 
Syracuse arose afterwards Agrigentum, Acra, Casmene, Camarene, 
and several other Sicilian towns. 

2. The government of Syracuse ,was monarchical, and might have 
long remained so, if all its sovereigns had inherited the abilities and 
virtues of Gelon. But his successoi-s, exercising the worst of tyran- 
ny, compelled their subjects at length to abolish the regal govern- 
ment ; and their example was speedily followed by all the Grecian 
states of Sicily. 

3. The monarchy of Syrncuse, however, was revived about sixty 
years after in the person of Dionysius, a man of obscure origin, but 
of signal ability. Twice expelled for a tyrannical exercise ot domin- 
ion, Tie as often found moans to overuower his enemies, aiul re-estab- 
lish hini^lf in the throne. At his death the crown passed, without 
opposition, to his son, Dionysius the younger, a weak and capriciou.^ 
tyrant, whom his subjects judging unworthy to reign, dethroned and 
banished, 357 A. C. The crown was conferred on'Dion, his brother- 
in-law, whose amiable character rendi^red him the delight of his 
people. But after a short reign this prince iell a victim to treason. 
Aided by the distractions of Syracuse consequent on tnis event, Dio- 
nysius remounted the throne ten years after his expulsion; but his 
tyrannical disposition, heiglUened by his mislbrtunes, became at. 
length so intolerable, that h.'. was expelled a second time, and 
banished toCorinth, where he ended his days in poverty and obscurity. 
The author of this revolution was the illustrious Timoleon, to 
whose abilities and virtues his country owed equally its liberty and 
its subsequent happiness and prosperity, 343 A. C. 

The signal opposition of national character between the Romans 
and the Carthaginians may be easily explained, when we attend to 
the effects of a commercial Ufe on the genius and manners of a nation. 
The vices of a commercial people are selfishness, cunning, avarice, 
with. an absence of every heroic and patriotic virtue. The t'avoura- 
'ble effects of commerce are industry, frugality, general courtesy of 
mannfers, improvement in the useful arts. Attending to these consR- 



62 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

qences of the prevalence of the commercial spirit, we shall see the 
principal features of the Carthaginian character opposed to the 
Roman. 



SECTION XXXll. 

THE PUNIC WARS. 

1. The triumph which the Romans had obtained over Pyrrhus 
seemed to give assurance of success in any enterprise in which they 
should engage. The Mamertines, a people of Campania, obtained 
aid from the Romans in an unjustifiable attempt which they made to 
seize Messina, a Sicilian town allied to Syracuse. The Syracusans, 
at tirst assisted hy the Carthaginians, opposed this iuA'asion ; but the 
former, more alarmed by the ambitious encroachments of the Cai- 
thaginians on Sicily, soon repented of this rash alliance, and joined 
the Romans in the purpose of expelling the Carthaginians entirely 
from the island. In fact the Sicilians seem to have had only the des- 
perate choice of tinal submission either to Rome or Carthage, 
They chose the former, as the alternative least dishonourable. The 
Romans had ever been their friends, the Carthaginians their enemies. 

2. Agrigentnm, possessed Ijy the Carthaginians, was taken, after 
a long siege, by the joint forces of Rome and Syracuse. A Roman 
fleet, the tirst which they ever had, was equipped in a fe\v weeks, 
and gained a complete victory over that of Carthage, at this time the 
greatest maritime pov. er in the world, 260 A. C. These successes 
were followed by the reduction of Corsica and Sardinia. In a second 
naval engagement the Romans took from the Carthaginians sixty of 
their ships of war, and now resolutely prepared for the invasion of 
Africa. The consul Regulus commanded the expedition. He ad- 
vanced to the gates of Carthage ; and such was the general conster- 
nation that the enemy proposed a capitulation. Inspirited, however, 
by a timely aid of Greek troops under Xantippus, the Carthaginians 
made a desperate effort, and, defeating the Roman army, made llegu- 
lus their prisoner. But, repeatedly defeated in Sicily, they were at 
length sorionsiy desirous of a peace ; and the Roman general was 
sent with iheir ambassadors to Rome to aid the negotiation, under a 
solemn oath to return to Carthage as a prisoner, if the treaty should 
fail. It ^vas rejected at the urgent desire of Regulus, who thus sac- 
riticed his iile to what he judged the interest of his country. 

3. Lily'xeum, the strongest of the Sicilian towns belonging to 
Carthag'-, was taken after a siege of nine years. After some alter- 
nate successes two naval battles won by the Romans terminated the 
war, and Carthage at last obtained a peace on the humiliating terms 
of abandoning to the Romans all her possessions in Sicily, the pay- 
ment of 3,2UU talents of silver, the restitution of all prisoners without 
ransom, and a solemn engagement never to make war against Syra- 
cuse or her allies. The island of Sicily was now declared a Roman 
province, though Syracuse maintained its independent government, 
A. U. C. 511,and A. C. 241. 

4. The peace between Rome and Carthage was of twenty-three 
years' duration. The latter power was recruiting its strength, and 
meditated to revenge jts losses and disgrace. The second Punic war 
began on the part of the Carthaginians, who besieged Saguntum, a 
city of Spain, in alliance with the Romans The youug Hannibal 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 63 

I took Saguntum after a siege of seven months ; the desperate inhabi- 
tants setting fire to the town, and perishing amidst the flames. Han- 
. nibal now formed the bold design of carrying the war into Italy. lie 
provided against every difficulty, gained to his interest a part of the 
Gallic tribes, passed the Pyrenees, and finally the Alps,* in a toil- 
some march of five months and a half from his leaving Carthagena ; 
and arrived in Italy with 20,000 foot and 6,000 hoi-se. 

5. In the first engagement the Romans were defeated. They also 
lost two otlier important battles at Trebia, and the lalce Thrasyme- 
nus. In the latter of these the consul Flaminius was killed, and his 
army cut to pieces. Hannibal advanced to Cannae in Apulia, where 

. the Romans opposed him with their whole force. A memorable 
defeat ensued, in which 40,000 Romans were left dead upon the 
field, and among these til? consul iEmilius, and almost the whole 
body of,the knights. If Hannibal had taken advantage of this great 
yictory(by instantly attacking Rome, the fate of the republic was 
inevitabTel but he deliberated, and the occasion was lost. The 
Romans concentrated all their strength. Even the slaves armed in 
the common cause, and victory once more attended the standai'ds of 
the republic. Philip, king of Macedon, joined his forces to tne 

► Carthaginians, but, defeated by Levinus, speedily withdrew his as- 
sistance. Hannibal retreated before the brave Marcellus. Syracuse 
had now taken part with Carthage, and thus paved the way lor the 
loss of its own liberty. Marcellus besieged the city, which was long 
defended by the inventive genius of Archimedes ; but was taken in 
the third year by escalade in the night. This event put an end to 
the kingdom of Syracuse, which now became a part of the Roman 
province of Sicily, A. U. CL 542, A. C. 212. 

6. While the war in Italy was prosperously conducted by the 

fjreat Fabius, who. by constantly avoiding a general engagement, 
ound the true method of weakening his enemy, the younger Scipio 
'' accomplished the entire reduction of Spain. Asdrubal was sent 
into Italy to the aid of his brother Hannibal, but was defeated by 
the consul Claudius, and slain in battle. Scipio, triumphant in Spain, 
passed over into Africa, and carried havoc and devastation to the 
gates of Carthage. Alarmed for the fate of their empire the Car- 
th iginians hastily recalled Hannibal from Italy. The battle of 
Zeiiia decided the fate of the war, by the utter defeat of the Cartha- 
ginians; They entreated a peace, which the Romans gave on these 
^ conditions: that the Carthaginians should abandon Spain, Sicily, and 
'all the islands; surrender all their prisoners, give up the whole of 
th.Mr tieet except ten galiies, pay 10,000 talents, and, in future, 
underbike no war without consent of the Romans, A. U. C. 552, A. 
C. 202. - 

7. Every thing now concurred to swell the pride of the conquer- 
ors, and to extend their dominion. A war with Philip of Macedon 
was terminated by his defeat ; and his son Demetrius was sent to 
Rome as a hostage for the payment of a heavy tribute imposed on 

y the vanquished. A war with Antiochus, king of Syria, ended in 
his ceding to the Romans the whole of the Lesser Asia. But these 
splendid conquests, while they enlarged the empire, were fatal to its 

* The passage of Hannibal over the Alps has been lately illustrated, 

-in a most learued and ingenious essay, by Mr. Whitaker (the celebrated 

historian of Manchester, and vindicator of Queen Mary), who has, with 

great acuteness, traced every step of the Carthaginian general, from his 

crossing the Rhone to his final arrival iu Italy. 



64 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

virtues, and subversive of the pure and venerable simplicity of 
ancient times. 

8. The third Punic war began A. U. C. 605, A. C. 149, and ended 
in the ruin of Carthage, An unsuccessful war with the Numidians 
had reduced the Carthaginians to great weakness, and the Romans 
meanly laid hold of that opportunity to invade Africa. Conscious of 
their utter inability to resist this formidable power, the Carthaginians 
oflbrrd every submission, and consented even to acknowledge them- 
selves the subjects of Home. The Romans demanded 300 hostages, 
for the strict performance of every condition that should be enjoined 
by the senate. The hostages were given, and the condition requir- 
ed was, that Carthage itself should be razed to its foundation. Des- 
pair gave courage to this miserable people, and they determined to 
die in the defence of their native city. But the noble effort was in 
vain. Carthage was takea by stoi-m, its inhabitants, massacred, and 
the city burnt to the groundj>. U. C. 607, A. C. 146. 

9. The same year wifs signalized by ,^the entire reduction of 
Greece under the dominion of the Romans. This was the sra of 
the dawn of luxury and taste at Rome, the natural fruit of foreign 
wealth, and an acquaintance with foreign manners. In the unequal 
distrihution of this imported wealth, the vices to which it gave rise, 
the corruption and venality of which it became the instrument, we 
sec ihe remoter causes of "those fatal disorders to which the republic 
owed its dissolution. 



SECTION XXXIll. 

THE GRACCHI, AND THE CORRUPTION OF THE COMMON- 
WEALTH. 

1. At this period arose Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, two noble 
youths, wliose zeal to refomi the growing corruptions of the state, 
precipitated them at length into measures destructive of all govern- 
ment and social order. Tiberius, the elder of the brothers, urged 
Ihe people to assert by force the revival of an ancient law, for hmits 
ing pro{)erty in land, and thus abridging the overgrown estates of the 
putricians. A tumult was the consequence, in which Tiberius, with 
[jOO of his friends, were killed in the Ibrum. This fatal example did 
not deter his brother, Caius Gracchus, from pursuing a similar career 
of zeal or of ambition. After some successful experiments ot his pow- 
er while in the olhce of tribune, he directed his scrutiny into the cor- 
ruptions of the senate, and prevailed in depriving that body of its con- 
stitutional control over all the inferior magistrates of the state. Em- 
ploying, like his brother, the dangerous engine of tumultuary lorce, 
he fell a victim to it himselt: with .'5,000 ofhis partisans, who were 
slau<^htcred in the streets of Rome. The tumults attending the se- 
dition of the Gracchi were the prelude to those civil disorders which 
now followed in quick succession to the end of the commonwealth. 

$. The circumstances attending the war with Jugurtha gave deci- 
sive proof of the corruption of the Roman manners. Jugurtha, 
grandson of Masinissa, sought to usurp the crown of Numidia by 
destroying his cousins, Hiempsal and Adherbal, the sons of the last 
kin J. He murdered the elder of the brothers; and the younger 
applying for aid to Rome, Jugurtha bribed the senate, who declared 
him innocent of all culpable act or design, and decreed to him tlxe 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 65 

sovereignty of half the kingdom. This operated only as an incentive 
to his criminal ambition. He declared open war against his cousin, 
besieged him in his capital of CirUi, and linally put him to death. 
To avert a threatened war Jugurtha went in person to Rome, 
pleaded his own cause in the senate, and once more by bribei-y 
secured his acquittal from all charge of criminality. A perseverance, 
however, in a similar train of conduct finally drew on him the ven- 
geance of the Romans ; and being betrayed into their hands by his 
own father-in-iaw, he was brought in chains to Rome, to grace the 
triumph of the consul Marius, confined to a dungeon, and starved to 
death, A. U. C. 651, A. C. 103. 

3. The ambition of the allied states of Italy to attain the rights 
of citizenship produced the social war, which ended in a conces- 
sion of those rights to such of the confederates as should retuiii 
peaceably to their allegiance. This war with the allies was a pre- 
lude to that which followed between Rome and her own citizens. 
' Sylla and Marius, rivals, and thence enemies, were at this time the 

leaders of the republic. Sylla, commanding in a war against Mithri- 
dates, was superseded, and recaileil from Asia. He refused to obey 
the maadate, and fou.id his army well disposed to support him. 
" Let us maroh to Rome," said they, with one voice ; '• lead us on 
to avenge the cause of oppressed liberty." Sylla accordingly led 
them on, and they entered Rome sword in hand. Marius and his 
partizans tied with precipitation from the city, and Sylla ruled for a 
while triumphant. Hut the faction of his rival soon recovered 
strength. Marius returning to Italy, and joining his forces to those 
of Cinna, his zealous partizan, laid siege to Rome, and, while Sylla 
was engaged in the Mithridatic war, compelled the city to absolute 
submission. After a horrible massacre of all whom they esteemed 
their enemies, Marius and Cinna proclaimed thenvselves consuls, 
without the formality of an election ; but Marius died a few days 
after in a fit of debauch. 

4. After a victorious campaign in Asia, Sylla returned to Italy, 
and, joined by Cethegns, V^crres, and the young Pompcy, gave 
battle to the party of his enemieSj and entirely defeated them. 
His entry into Rome was signalized by a dreadful massacre, and a 
proscriptioii, which had for its object the extermination, of every 
enemy whom he had in Italy. Elected dictator for an unlimited 
period,he was now without a rival in authority, and absolute mister 
of the government, which, of course, was no longer a republic. 
In the exercise of his dominion he deserved more praise tnan in 

■ the means of acquiring it. He restored the senate to its judicial^ 
authority, regulated the election to all the important olhces of 
state, a.id enacted mmy excellent laws against oppression and the 
abuse of power. Finally, he gave demonstration, if[ not of a pure 
conscience, at least of a magnanimous hitrepidity of character, by 
vomntarily resigning all command, retiring to the condition of a 
private citizen, and otVering publicly to give an account of his con- 
duct. He died within a short time after his resignation. He was 
Certainly a man of great strength of mind, and had some of the qual- 

' itie* of a heroic character; but he lived in evil times, when it was 
imj)ossible at once to be great and to be virtuous. 

5. Tne death of Sylla renewed the civil vvar. Lepidus, a man of 
no abilities, aspired to succeed him in povver; and Pompey, with 

' Superior talent-*, cherished the same ambition. While the latter was 
employed in the reduction of the revolted provinces of Asia, the 
F 2 9 



66 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

conspiracy of Catiline threatened tlie entire destruction of Rome. 
It was extinguished by the provident zeal and active patriotisnn 
of the consul Cicero. Catiline and his chief accomplices were 
attacked in the field, and defeated by Antonius. The traitor made 
a desperate defence, and died a better death than iiis crimes had 
merited. 

6. Julius CiBsar now rose into public notice. Sylla dreaded his 
abilities and aml>ition, and had numbered him among the proscribed. 
" There is m jny a Marius," said he, " in the person of that young 
man."" He liatl learned prurience from the danger of his situation, 
and tacitly courted pnpuluritv, without that show of enterprise 
which gives alarm to a rival. While Pompey and Crassus contendetl 
for the command of the republic, Csesar, who knew that, by attach- 
ing himself to either rival, he infiliii)ly made the other his enemy, 
showed the reach of his talents by reconciling them, and thus 
acquiring the friendship of both. From favour to their mutual friend 
they agreed to a partition of power; and thtis was fisrmed the tirst 
triumvirate. Caesar was elected consul. He increased his popularity 
by a division of lands among the poorer citizens, and strengthened 
his interest with Pompey by giving him his daughter in marriage. 
He had the command of tour legions, and the government of trans- 
alpine Gaul and lllyria. 

7. The military glory of the republic, and the reputation of 
Caisar, were nobly sustained in Gaul, in the tirst year of Im govern- 
ment he subdued the Helvetii, who, leaving their own country, had 
attempted to settle themselves in the better regions of the lioman 
province. He totally defeated the Germans tmder Ariovistus, who 
had attempted a similar invasion. The Kelgae, the Nervii, the 
Celtic Gauls, the Suevi, Menapii. and other warlike nations, were 
all successively brought under subjection. In the fourth year of his 
goveniment he transported his army into Britain. Landing at Deal, 
he was opposed by the natives with equal courage and military skill. 
He gained, however, several advantages, and, binding the Britons to 
submi'^sion, withdrew into Gaul on the approach of winter. He 
returned in the following summer with a greater force, anil, prose- 
cuting his victories, reduced a considerable portion of the island 
under the Roman dominion, A. C. 54. But the pressure of atfaii-s 
in Italy suspended for a time the progress of the Roman amis in 
"Britain. 

8. Caesar dreaded the abilities of Cicero, who had opposed him 
in his views of ambition. By the machinations of hi"* partizans, 
while he was absent in Gaul, he procured the banishment of Cicero, 
and the confiscation of his estates, on the pretence of illegal meas- 
ures pursued in the suppression of the conspiracy of Catiline. 
During an exile of sixteen months in Greece, Cicero gave way to a 
despondi^ncy of mind utterly unworthy of flie philosopher. Pom- 

Eey had abandoned him, and this ungrat"ful (lesertion bore most 
eavily upon hi" mind. In the wane of his reputation Pompey soon 
became desirous to prop his own sinking fortunes by the abilities of 
Cicero, and eagerly promoted his recal from exile." The death of 
Crassus, in an cxpecfition against the Parthians, now dissolved the 
triumvirate ; and Cassar and Pompey, whose union had no other bond 
than interest, began each to conceive separately the view of undivid- 
ed dominion. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. (f 



SECTION XXXIV. 

PROGRESS OF THE CIVIL WARS. SECOND TRIUMVIRATE. 
FALL OF THE REPUBLIC. 

1. The ambition of Caesar and of Pompey had now evidently the 
game o!;ject ; and it seemed to be the only question, in those degen- 
erate times, to which of these aspiring leaders the ri'puhlic should 
surrender its liberties. The term of Caesar's governmt^nt was near 
expiring. To secure himself against a deprivation of power, he 
procured a proposal to be mnde in the senate by one of his parlizans, 
which wore the appearance of great moderation, namely, that 
Cagsar and Pompey should either both continue in their govern- 
ments, or boll) bo deprived of them, as they were equally capable 
of endangering the public liberty by an abuse of power. The mo- 
tion passed, and Caesar immediately offered to resign, on condition 
that his rival should do so ; but Pompey rejected the accommodation. 
The term of his government had yet several years' duration, and 
he suspected the proposal to he a snare laid for him by Caisar. He 
resolved to maintain his right bv force oi arms, and a civil war w;is 
the necessary consequence. The consuls and a great part of the 
senate were the iriends of Pompey. Caesar had on his side a victo- 
rious army, consisting of ton legion'*, and the body of the Roman cit- 
izens, whom he had won by his liberality. Mark Antony and Ca*- 
sius, at tlvat time tribunes of the people, left Rome, and repaired to 
Cffisar's camp. 

2. The senate, apprehensive of his designs, pronounced a decree, 
branding with the crime of narriciile any conmiander who should 
dare to pass the Rubicon (the boundary b(>tween Italy and the 
Gauls) with a single cohort, without their pemiission. Ca;sar 
intringed the prohibition, and marched straight to Rome. — Pompey, 
to whom the senate committed the defence of the state, had no 
army. He quitted Rome, followed by the consuls and a part of the 
senate, and endeavoured hastily to levy troops over all Italy and 
Greece ; while Caisar triumphantly entered the city amidst the 
acclamations of the people, seized the public treasury, and possessed 
himself of the supreme authority witnout opposition. Having se- 
cured the capital of the empire, he set out to take tl)e tield against 
her et'iemio'^. The lieutenants of Pompey had pt>s>;c^'ssion of Spain. 
Caesar marcherl thithei-, and subdued the whole country in the 
space of forty days. He returned victorious to Rome, where, in his 
absence, he liad been nominated dictator. In the succeeding elec- 
tion of magistrates he was chosen consul, and was thus invested, by 
a double title, with the right of acting in the name of the republic. 
Pf !npey had by this time raised a numerous army, and Ca?sar was 
anxious to bring him to a decisive engagement. The two armies 
met in lllyria. and the iii-st contlict was of doubtful issue. Caesar 
led his anny into Macedonia, where he found a large reinforcement. 
He gave battle to Pompey in the field of Pharsalia, and entirely 
defeated him. Fifteen thousand of Pompey's army were slain, and 
24. >')0 surrendered themselves prisonci"s to the victor, A. U. C. 7U5, 
A. C. '19. 

3 The fate of Pompey was miserable in the extreme. With his 
wife Cornelia, the comeanion of his misfortunes, he ded to Kgypt in 



68 ANCIEISTT HISTORY. 

a single ship, trusting to the protection of Ptolemy, whose father 
had owed to nim his settlement on the throne. But the ministers of 
this young prince, dreading the power of Ca?sar, basely courted his 
favour by the murder of his rival. Pompey watj brought ashore in 
a smail lioat by the guards oi the king ; and a Koman centurion, 
who had Ibught under his banners, stabbed him, even in the sight of 
Cornelia, and cutting otV his head, threw the body naked on the 
sands. Caesar pni-sued Potnpey to Alexandria, where the head of 
that unhappy man, presented as a grateful ollering, gave him the 
fii-st intelligence of his fate. He wept, and turned with horror from 
thi' sight. He caused every honour to be paid to his memory, and 
from that time showed the utmost beneticence to the pai'tiziuis of 
his unlbrtunate rival. 

4. The sovereignty of Egypt was in dispute between Ptolemy 
and his sister Cleopatra. 'J'he latter, though married to her brother, 
and joint heir by her father's will, was ambitious of undivided author- 
ity ; and Caesar, captivated by her charms, decided the contest in 
favour ot' the beauteous queen. A war ensued, in which Ptolemy 
was killed, and Egypt subtlued by the Roman arms, hi this war the 
famous library of Alexandria was burnt to ashes, A. C. 48. A revolt 
of the Asiatic provinces, under Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, 
WM signally chastised ; and the report was conveyed by Caesar to 
the Koman senate in three words. Feni^ vidi^ vici. The conqueror 
returned to Rome, which needed his presence ; for Italy was divid- 
ed, and the partizans of Pompey were yet extremely Ibrmidabie. 
His two son><, with Cato and Scipio, were in arms in Alrica. Caesar 
pursued them thither, and proceeding with caution till secure of his 
advantage, defeated them in a decisive engagement at Thapsus. 
IScipio perished in his passage to Spain. Cato, shutting himself up 
in Utica, meditated a brave resistance ; but seeing no hope of suc- 
cess, he tinally determined not to survive the liberties of his country, 
and fell deliberately by his own hand. Mauritania was now addeci 
to the number of the Roman provinces ; and Caesar returned to 
Rome, absolute master of the empire. 

b. h rom that moment his attention was directed solely to the 
prosperity and happiness of the Roman people. He remembered 
no longer that there had been opposite parties ; benelicent alike to 
the friends of Pompey as to his own. He laboured to reform eveiy 
species of abuse or grievance. He introduced order into every de- 
partment of the state, detining the separate rights of ail its magistrates, 
and extending his care to tiie regulation of its most distant provinces. 
The relbrmation of the kalendar, the draining of the marshes of 
Italy, the navigation of the Tiher, the embeliisnmenl of Rome, the 
complete survey and delineation of the empire, alternately em- 
ployed his liberal and capacious mind. Returning from the tiiiiU 
overthrow of Pompey's party in .>pain, he was hailed the father of 
his country, was created consul for ten years, and perpetual dic- 
tator. His person was declared sacred, his titie hencelbrth impemlor^ 
A. \3. C. 7U9, A. C. 45. 

6. The Roman republic had thus iinally resigned its liberties, by 
its own acts. They were not extinguished, as Montesquieu has 
well rem irked, by the ambition of a Pompey or of a Caesar. If the 
sentiments of Cajsar and Pompey bad been the same with those of 
Cato, others would have had the same amliitious tiiougxits; and, 
since the commonwealth was fated to fail, tl»erc nev-jr would have 
been wanting a hand to drag it to destruction. Yet Caesar had by 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 61 

force subdued his country; and therefore was a usurper. If it had 
been possible to restore tne liberties of the republic, and with these 
its happiness, by the suppression of his usurpation, the attempt 
would have merited the praise at least of good design. Perhaps so 
thought his murderers ; and thus, however weak their policy, now- 
ever base and treacherous their act, they will ever tind apologists. 
They expected an impossible issue, as the event demonstrated. 

7. A conspiracy was formed by sixty of the senators, at the head 
of whom were tirutus and Cassius; the former a man beloved of 
CiEsar, who had saved his life, and heaped upon him numberless 
benetits. It was rumoured that the dictator wished to add to his 
numerous titles that of king, and that the ides of March was fixed 
on lor investing him with the diadem. On that day, when taking 
his seat in the senate-house, he was suddenly assailed by the con- 
spirators. He defended himself tor some time against their daggers, 
till, seeing Brutus among the number, he faintly exclaimed, '■'' And 
you, too, my son !" and covering his face with his robe, resigned 
himself to his fate. He fell, pierced by twenty-three wounds, A. U. 
C. 711, and A. C. 43. 

8. The Rom:m people were struck with horror at the deed. 
They loved Caesar, master as he \v;is of their lives and liljorties. 
Mark Antony and Lepidiis, ambitious of succeeding to the power of 
the dictator, resolved to p;ive the way by avenging his death.) 
Caesar, by his testament, had bequeathed a great part of his fortune 
to the people ; and they were penetrated with gratitude to his 
memory. A public harangue by Antony over the bleeding body, ex- 
posed in the forum, inHauicd them with the utmost itulignation 
against his murderers, who must have met with instant destruction 
if they had not escaped with precipitation from the city. Antony 
protited by these dispositions ; and the avenger of Caisar, of coui'se 
the favourite of the people, was in the immediate prospect of attain- 
ing a similar height of dominion. In this, however, he found a for- 
midable competitor in Octavius, the grand-nephew and the adopted 
heir of Caesar, who, at this critical moment, ariived in Rome. 
Availing himself of these titles, Octavius gained the senate to his inter- 
est, and divided with Antony the favour of the people. The rivals 

. soon perceived that it was their wisest plan to unite their interests; 
and they admitted Lepidus into their association, whose power, as 
governor of Gaul, and immense riches, gave him a title to a share 
of authority. Thus was lorincd the second triumvirate, the eftects 
of whose union were beyond measure dreadful to the republic. 
The triumviri divided among themselves the provinces, and cement- 
ed their union by a deliberate sacritice macle by each of his best 
friends to the vengeance of his associates. Antony consigned to 
death his uncle Lucius ; Lenidus his brother Paulus ; and Octavius 
ins guardian Toranius and his friend Cicero. In this horrible pro- 
scription 3<)0 senators and 3,l)U<) knights were put to death. 

9. Octavius and Antony now marcned ag;sinst the conspirators, who 
had a formidable army in the field in Thrace, commanded by Brutus 
and Cassius. An engagement ensued at Philipp.i, which decided 
the fate of the empire. Antony obtained the victory, for Octivius 
had no military talents. He was destitute even of pei-sonal bravery, 
and his conduct after the victory was stained with that cruelty which 
is ever the attendant of cowardice. Brutus and Cassius escaped the 
vengeance of their enemies by a voluntary death. Antony now 
sought a recompense for his troops by the plunder of the east. 



TO ANCIENT HISTORY. 

While in Cilicia, he summoned Cleopatra to answer for her conduct 
in dethroning an infant brother, and in openly favouring tl;e yarty of 
Brutus and Cassius. The queen came to 1 arsus, and made a com- 
plete conquest of the triumvir. Immersed in luxury, and intoxicated 
with love, he forgot glory, ambition, fame, and every thing, lor 
Cleopatra. Octavius saw this phrensy with delight, as the prepara- 
tive of his rival's ruin. He had nothing to dread from Lepidus, | 
whose insignificant character first drew on him the contempt of his I 
partizans; and whose folly, in attempting an invasion of the province '■ 
of his colleague, was punished by his deposition and banishment. 

10. Antony had in his madness lavished the provinces of the em- 
pire in gifts to his par.imour and her children. The Roman people i 
were justly indignant at these enormities; and the divorce of nis 
wife Octavia, the sister of his colleague, was at length the signal of , 
declared hostility between them. An immense armament, chiefly 
naval, came at length to a decisive conflict near Actium, on the 
coast of Epirus. Cleopatra, who attended her lover, deserted him 
with her galleys in the heat of the engagement ; and such was the 
infatuation of Antony, that he abandoned his fleet, and followed her. 
After a contest of some hours, thej yielded to the squadron of Octavius, 
A. U. C. 723, A. C. 31. The victor pursued the fugitives to Egypt; 
and the base Cleopatra proffered terms to Octavius, including the j 
surrender of her kingdom, and the abandonment of Antony After j 
an unsuccessful attempt at resistance, Antony anticipated his fate i 
by falling on his swonl. Cleopatra soon alter, eitUer from remorse, 
or more probably from mortified ambition, as she found it was Octa- 
vius's design to lead her in chains to Home to grace his triumph, had 
courage to follow the example of her lover, and put hei-seif to death 
by the poison of an asp. Octavius returned to Rome sole master of 
the Roman empire, A. U. C. 727, A. C. 27. 



SECTION XXXV. 

CONSIDERATIONS OF SUCH PARTICULARS AS MARK THE 
GENIUS AND NATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE ROMANS. 

SYSTEM OF ROMAN EDUCATION. 

1. A VIRTUOUS but rigid severity of manners was the characteristic 
©f the Romans under thi ir kings, and in the first ages of the repub- 
lic. The private life of the citizens, frugal, temperate, and labori- 
ous, had its influence on their puljlic character, 'i'hc {patria potestas) 
paternal auihority gave to every head of a family a sovereign author- 
ity over all the members that composed it; and this power, felt as a 
riglit of nature, was never abused. Plutarch has remarked, as a defect 
in the Roman laws, thiit they did not prescribe, as those of Lacedag- 
mon, a system and rules for the education of youth. But the truth 
is, the manners of the people supplied this want. The utmost at- 
tention was bestowed in the early formation of the mind and charac- 
ter. The excellent author of" the dialogue De Oratonbus {ccmcerning 
orators) presents a valuable picture of the Roman education in the 
early ages of the commonwealth, contrasted with the less virtuous 
practice of the more refined ages. The Roman matrons did not 
abandon their infants to mercenary nurses. They regarded the 
careful nurture of their oflspring, the rudiments of their education, 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 71 

and the necessary occunations of their household, as the highest 
points of female merit. Next to the care bestowed in the instilment 
of virtuous morals, a remarkable degree of attention seems to have 
been given to the language of children, and to the attainment of 
a correctness and purity of expression. Cicero informs us that the 
Gracchi^ the sons of Cornelia, were educated, non turn in grcemio 
qiiain in serinone matris^ «i the speech more than in the bosom of their 
mother. That urbanity which characterized the Roman citizens 
showed itself particularly in their speech and gesture. 

2. The attention to the language of the youth had another source. 
It was by eloquence, more than by any other talent, that the young 
Roman could rise to the highest otfices and dignities of the state. 
The studia Jorcnsia [Jorerisic studies) were, therefore, a principal ob- 
ject of the Koman education. Plutarch intbrms us, that among the 
sports of the children at Rome, one was pleading causes belorc a 
mock tribunal, and accusing and defending a criminal in the usual 
forms of judicial procedure. 

3. The exercises of the body were likewise particularly attended 
to; whatever might harden the temperament, and confer strength 
and agility. These exercises were daily practised by the youth, 
under the eye of their elders, in the Campus Wartius. 

4. At seventeen the youth assumed the manly robe. He was 
consigned to the care of a master of rhetoric, whom he attended 
constantly to the forum, or to the courts of justice ; for, to be an 
accomplished gentleman, it was necessary for a Koman to be an ac- 
complished orator. The pains bestowed on the attainment of ihis 
character, and the best instructions for its acquisition, we learn iVoia 
the writings of Cicero, C^uintilian, and the younger Pliny. 



SECTION XXXVI. 



OF THE PROGRESS OF LITERATURE AMONG THE ROMANS. 

1. Before the intercourse with Greece, which took place after 
the Punic wars, the Roman people was utterly rude and illiterate. 
As among all nations the tirst appearance of the literary spirit is 
shown in poetical composition, the Roman warrior had probably, 
like the Indian or the Celtic, his war songs, which celebrated his 
triumphs in battle. Religion likewise employs the earliest poetry 
of most nations ; and if a people subsist by agricuhure, a plentit'ul 
harvest is celebrated in the rustic song ot the husbandman. The 
versus fescennini {J'escennine veises)^ mentioned by Livy, were proba- 
bly ot the nature of a poetical dialogue, or alternate verses sung by 
the labourers, in a strain of coarse merriment and raillery. I'his 
shows a dawning of the drama. 

2. About the 390th year of Rome, on occasion of a pestilence, 
Indiones (drolls or stage dancers) were brought from Etruria, qui 
ad tibicinis modos saltanlcs, hand indecoros motiis more Tvsco dabant ; 
who danced to the tunes of a musician., and, in the Tuscan fashion., exhi- 
bited motions that were not ungraceful. Livy tells us that the Roman 
youth imitated these performances, and added to them rude and joc- 
ular verses, probably the fescennine dialogues. I'ho regular drama 
was introduced at Rome from (jireece by Livius Aadronicus, A. U. C. 



72 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

614. The earliest Roman plays were therefore, we may presume, 
translations from the Greek. 

Et post punica bella quietus quaerere coepit, 

Quid bophocles, et I'hespis, et ^schylus utile ferrent. 

Hor. Epist. Lib. II, i. 

And being at peace after the Punic wars, the Romans began to inquire 
■what advantages might be derived from tlie writings of feophocles, Thespia, 
and ^schylus. 

3. Of the early Roman drama, Ennius was a great ornament, and 
from his time the art made rapid advancement. The comedies of 
Plautus, the contemporary of Lnnius, witli great strength and spirit 
of dialogue, display a considerable knowledge of human nature, 
and are read at this day vvitii pleasure. 

4. Caeciiius improved so much on the comedy of Plautus, that he 
is mentioned by Cicero as perhaps the best of the Roman comic 
writers. Of his compositions we have no remains. Mis patronage 
fo.stei-ed the rising genius of Terence, whose lirst comedy, the An- 
driu, was performed A. U. C. 587. Tlie merit of the comedies of 
Terence lies in that nature and simplicity vviiicli arc observable in 
the structure of his fables, and in the delineation of his characters. 
They are dehcient, however, in comic energj ; and are not calcu- 
lated to excite ludicrous emotions. They are chielly borrowed from 
the Greek of Menaiider and Apollodorus. 

5. The Roman comedy was of four different species : the cmnedia 
to^ata or prwtextula, the coinelui tabtrnuiiu^ the uttdlanoi^ and the 
iiwni. The hrst ailinilled serious scenes and personages, and was of 
the nature of the modern sentimental comedy. The second was a 
representation of ordinary lite ami manners. The atteilonie were 
pieces where the dialogue was not committed to wriiing, but the 
subject of the scene was prescribed, and the dialogue hlied up by 
the talents of the actors. The mimi were pieces of comedy ot the 
lowest species ; farces, or entertainments of bufloontry ; tliougl) 
sometimes admitting the serious, and even the pathetic. 

6. The Roman tragedy kept pace in its advancement with the 
comedy. The best of the Koman tragic poets were Actius and 
Pacuvius, of whom we have no remains. I'he tragedies published 
ander the name of Seneca are generally esteemed the work ol dif- 
ferent hands. They are none of them of supei-iative merit. 

7. V'elleius Faterculus remarks, that tiie ara of the perfection 
of Roman literature was the age of Cicero, con.pichending all the 
literary men of the preceding limes whom Cicero might have seen, 
and all those of the succeeding who might have seen him. Cicero, 
Quintilian, and Pliny celebrate, in high terms, the writings of the 
elder Cato, whose principal works were historical, and have entirely 
perished. We have his fragments, de Re Rvfiticu {on agriculture), in 
which he was imitated by Varro, one of the earliest of the good 
writers among the Romans, imd a man of universal erudition. Of 
the variety of his talents we may judge, not only from the splendid 
eulogium of Cicero, but from the circumstance of Pliny having re- 
course to his authoi-ity in every book of his ISatural History. 

8. Sallust, in order of time, comes next to Varro. This writer 
introduced an inportant improvement on history, as treated by the 
Greek historians, by applying (as iJionysius of lialicarnassus says^ 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 73 

the science of philosophy to the study of facts. Sallust is therefore 
to be considered as the father of philosophic history ; a species of 
writing which has been so successfully cultivated in nnodern times. 
He is an admirable writer for the matter of his compositions, which 
evince great judgment and knowledge of human nature, but by no* 
means commendable for his style and manner of writing. He aiiects 
singularity of expression, an antiquated phraseology, and a petulant 
bre\ ity and sententiousness, which has nothing of the dignity of the 
historical style. 

9. Cffsar has much more purity of style, and more correctness 
and simphcity of expression ; but his Commentaries, wanting that 
amplitude of diction and fulness of illustration which is essential to 
history, are rather of the nature of annals. 

10. in ail the requisites of a historian, Livy stands unrivalled 
among the Romans ; possessing consummate judgment in the selec- 
tion of facts, perspicuity of arrangement, sagacious retlection, sound 
views of policy, with the most copious, pure, and eloquent expres- 
sion. It has been objected, that his speeches derogate from the 
truth of history : but this was a prevalent taste with the ancient 
writers ; and as those speeches are always known to be the compo- 
sition of the historian, the reader is not misled. As to the style of 
Livy, though in general excellent, we sometimes perceive in it, and 
most commonly in the speeches, an affectation of the pointed sen- 
tences (the vtbmntes seiiicntiolw) and obscurity of the declaimcrs, 
which evinces the pernicious influence acquired by those teachei'S 
at Rome since the time of Cicero and Sallust. 

11. In the dechne of Roman literature 'Tacitus is a historian of 
no common merit. He successfully cultivated the method pointed 
out by Sallust, of applying philosophy to history. In this he dis- 
plays great knowledge of human nature, and penetrates, with sin- 
gular acuteness, into the secret springs of policy, and the motives 
of actions. Rut his fault is, that he is too much of a politician, 
drawing his characters after the model of his own mind ; ever as- 
signing actions and events to preconceived scheme and design, and 
allowing too little for the operation of accidental causes, which often 
liave the greatest influence on human affairs. Tacitus, in his style, 
professedly imitated that of Sallust ; adopting all the ancient phra- 
seology, as well as the new idioms introduced into the Roman lan- 
guage by that writer. To his brevity and abruptness he added most 
of the fuilts of the declaiming school. His expression, therefore, 
though extremely forcil)le, is often enigmatically obscure; llie 
worst property tliat style can possess. 

1 2. Among the eminent Roman poets (after the dramatic^ Lucre- 
tius deserves tirst to be noticed. He has great inequality, being at 
some times verbose, rugged, and perplexed, and at others displaying 
all the elegance as well as the tire of poetry. This may be in great 
part attributed to his subject. Philosophical disquisition is unsuitable 
to poetry. It demands a dry precision of thought and expression, 
rejecting all excursive fancy and ornament of diction. That luxuri- 
ance of imagery, which is the soul of poetry, is raving and imper- 
tinence when applied to philosophy. 

13. Catullus, the contemporary of Lucretius, is the earliest of the 
Roman lyric poets. His Epignins are pointed and satirical, but too 
licentious; his Idylla tender, natural, and picturesque. He flourished 
in the age of Julius Caesar. 

14. In the succeeding age of Augustus, poetry attained to its highr 

G 10 



74 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

est elevation among the Romans .Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Tibul- 
lus, were all contemporaries. V^irgil is allowed the same rank among 
the Roman poets, as Homer among the Greek. If Homer excel 
Virgil in the sublime, the latter surpasses the former in the tender 
and elegant. The transcendent merits of Homer are sullied by oc- 
casional defects. Virgil is the model ol' a correct taste. The dif- 
ference of manner in the Bucolics, tlie Georgics and the A^neid,^ 
shows that Virgil was capable of excelling in various departments of 
poetry; and such is the opinion of Martial, who affirms that he 
could have surpassed Horace in lyric poetry, and \'arius in tragedy. 

15. Horace excels as a lyric poet, a satirist, and a critic. In his 
odes there is more variety than in those of either Anacreon or 
Pindar. He can alternately display the sublhnity of the latter, and 
the jocose vein of the former. His Satires have that characteristic 
slyness and obliquity of censure, associated with humour and pleas- 
antry, which strongly distinguish them from the stern and cutting 
sarcasm of Juvenal. As a critic, his rules are taken chietly from 
Aristotle ; but they contain the elements of a just taste in poetical 
composition, and therefore do not admit of variation.^ The Satires 
of Juvenal, compared with those of Horace, are deticient in face- 
tiousnessand urbanity ; but they are superior in acuteness of thought, 
and in manly vigor of sentiment. 

16. In variety of talent, without supreme excellence, and in ease 
and elegance of numbers, no Roman poet has exceeded Ovid. In 
his Metamorphoses, particularly, n ilh great fancy, we have speci- 
mens of the pathetic, the descriptive, the eloquent, and even the 
sublime. His Elegies have more of nature and of real passion, 
than those of either TibuUus or Propertins. His amatory verses 
have much tenderness, but are too frequently loose, and even grossly- 
licentious. 

17. 'J'here is nothing more elegant than the compositions of Tl- 
buUus, nothing more delicate than the turn of his expression; but 
it is not the language of passion. The sentiments are tender, but 
their power of alTecling the heart is weakened by the visible care 
and solicitude of the poet for refined phraseology and polished num- 
bers; nor is there either nnich fancy or variety of thought. A sin- 
gle elegy exhibits the sentiments of the whole. 

18. Martial is the last of the Roman poets who can be mentioned 
with high approbation. His Epigrams, independent of their art and 
ingenuity, are valuable, as throwing light upon the Roman manners. 
He possesses, above every other poet, a naivete of expression, 
which is chieily observable in his serious epigrams. He is well char- 
acterized by the younger Pliny. Ingcniosus^ acer^ et qui in scribcndoet 
salis haberet etfelUs^ nee candoris minus. Epist. 3. 21. His zvritings are 
ingenious and acute ; they possess humour and satire., and no less candour. 

"l9. Luxuriance of ornament, and the loudness for points, and bril- 
liancy of thought and expression, are certain indications of the de- 
cline of good taste. These characters strongly mark the Latin 
poets of the succeeding ages. Lucan has some scattered examples 
of genuine poetic imagery, and Persius some happy strokes of ani- 
mated satire ; but they scarcely compensate the aiTected obscurity 
of one, and the bombast of the other. The succeeding poets, Statius, 
Silius Italicus, and Valerius Fiaccus, in their attempts at the most 
difficult of all species of poetry, the epic, have only more signally 
displayed the iufeiiority of their genius, and the manifest decay of 
the ai-t. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 75 

SECTION XXXVII. 

STATE OF PHILOSOPHY AMONG THE ROMANS. 

1. The Roman?, in the earlier periods of the republic, had little 
leisure to bestow on the cultivation-Qi' the sciences, and had.'no idea 
of philosophical speculation. ltcwas,Dot till the end of the sixth 
century from the building of the city, and ia the inten al between 
the war with Perseus and the third Punic war^/that philosophy made 
its tirst appcarvince at Rome. A few learned Acnaeans, banished 
from their country, had settlecriTi various parts of italj', and apply- 
ing themselves to the cultivation of literature and the education 
of^youth, diffused a taste lor those studies hitherto unknown to the 
Romans. The elder citizens regarded those pureuiLs with an unfa- 
vourable eye. Jealous of the introduction of foreign manners with 
foreign studies, the senate banished the Greek philosophers from 
Rome. But an Athenian embassy, arriving soon after, brought 
thitherCarneadesand Critolatis, who revived the taste for the Greek 
philosophy, and left behind them many able disciples, who publicly 
taught their doctrines. 

2. It was natural that those systems should be most generally 
adopted which were most suitable to the national character. While 
the manners of the Romans had a tincture of imcient severity, the 
stoical system prevailed. Scipio, Lachus, and the younger Cato rank 
among its chief partisans. 

3. The philosophy of Aristotle was little known in Rome till the 
age of Cicero. At that time Cratippus and Tyrannion taught \m 
system with great reputation. Yet Cicero complains that the peri- 
patetic philosophy was little understood at Rome ; and therefore, he 

I sent his son to study its doctrines in the schools of Athens. 

4. LucuUus, whose stay in Greece gave him an opportunity of 
being acquainted \vith all the different sects, disseminated, on his 
return to Rome, a very general taste for philosophv- His patronage 
of learned men, and his liberality in allowing his library to be opea 

* for the public use, contributed greatly to tue promotion of litera- 
ture. 

5. The Old and New Academy had each its partisans. Of the 
former, which may be termed the btoico-Platonic, the most illus- 
trious disciples were ISIarcus Brutus and Terentius Varro. To the 
philosophical talents of Brutus, and the univei"sal erudition of \'arro, 
the writings of Cicero bear ample testimony. Cicero himself must 
be deemed the most eminent ot all the Roman philosophers. He is 
classed among the principal supporters of the New Academy ; 
though it seems to have l)een his purjxj^e to elucidate the Greek 
philosophy in general, rather than to rank himself among the disci- 
ples of any particuUir S(^ct. 

6. The cultivation of physics, or natural philosophy, seems to 
have been little attended to either by the (ireeks or Romans. Un- 
less agriculture should be cl.u^sed under this description, we know 
of no Roman authors, except Varro and the elder Pliny, who seem 
to have bestowed much attention on the operations of nature. The 

* tvorks of \'arro have perished, except a lew fragments. The Nat- 
ural History of Pliny is a most valuable store-house of the knowl- 
edge of the ancients in physics, economics, and the arts and sciences. 



76 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

It is to be regretted that the style is iinsuitable to the matter, being 
too frequently tlorid, declamatory, and obscure. 

7. The philosophy of Epicurus was unknown in the early ages 
of the Roman commonwealth. It was introduced with luxury, and 
kept pace in its advancement with the corruption of manners. Cin- 
neas naving discoursed on the tenets of Epicurus at the table of 
Fyrrhus, Fabricius exclaimed, "May the enemies of Rome ever 
entertain such principles !" Yet these principles were, in a short 
lime from that period,' too current among the citizens of Rome. 



SECTION XXXVIII. 

OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE xMANNERS OF THE ROMANS. 

1. The manners of the Romans in the early ages of the republic 
were so different from those of the latter times, that one should be 
led to suppose some very extraordinary causes to have co-operated 
to produce so remarkable a chixii^c^ yet the transition is easy to be 
accounted for. A spirit of temperance, of frugality, and probity, is 
the characteristic of every infant establishment. A virtuous simpli- 
city of manners, arid a rigour of military discipline, paved the way 
for the extension of the Roman arms, and for their prodigious con- 
quests. These conquest introduced wealth, luxury, and corruption. 

2. In the early times of the republic the patricians, when in the 
country, forgot the distinction of ranks, and laboured in the cultiva- 
tion of their helds, like the meanest plebeians. ^Ye have the exam- 
ples of Cincinnatus, Curius, the elder Cato, and Scipio Africanus. 
The town was visited only every ninth day, which was the market 
day. In those times of virtuous sim])licity, says Sallust, Domi inili- 
tiaeque boni mores culebantur. Duabm artibm, aiuktcia in bello^ ubi pax 
eof.nerui^ (rquitatc^ seque remque puhlicam curabant. Good mamiers were 
cullnuted both in peace and -a-ar. By t-ji'o means, valour in war, and 
equity in peace, they sttpported thcinsches and the cominonwcalih. But 
when the Komans had extended their dominion, in consequence of this 
very discipline and these manners, tliey imported with the wealth of 
the conquered nations their tastes, their manners, and their vices. 

3. The Romans had no natural taste in the fine arts. On the con- 
quest of Greece an immense field opened at once to their eyes, and 
the master-pieces of art poured in upon them in abundance. But 
they could not appreciate their excellences. The Roman luxury, as 
far as tlic arts were concerned, was in general displayed in an 
awkward, heavy, and tasteless magnificence. 

4. The public and private life of the Romans will be best eluci- 
dated by a short account of the manner in which the day was pass- 
ed at Rome, both, by the higher and lower i-jinks of the people. 
By a part of the citizens the morning hours were spent in visiting 
the temples, by others in attending the levees of the great. The 
dientes (clients) waited on their patroni (patrons J ; the patricians 
visited one another, or paid their compliments to the leaders of the 
repubhc. Popularity was always the first object of ambition at 
Rome, as paving the way to all advancement. Fi'om the levee they 
proceeded to the forum, either to assist in the public business, or for 
amusement. There the time was spent till noon, which was the 
hour of dinner among the Romans. This was chiefly a very light 
repast, of which it was not customary to invite any guests to partake:. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 77 

After dinner the youth repaired to the Campus Martius, where they 
occupied themselves in athletic exercises and sports till sunset. The 
elder class retired for an hour to repose, and then passed the after- 
noon in their porticoes, galleries or libraries, where they enjoyed the 
conversation of their friends, or heard recitations of literary works ; 
others repaired to the theatres, or to the shows of the circus and 
amphitheatre. 

5. Combats of gladiators were introduced for the first time about 
the 400th year of the city. These and combats with ^^ ild beasts soon 
became a favourite amusement among the Romans. The spirit of 
luxury, which in general is not uni'avourable to humanity, showed its 
progress among the Romans by an increasing lerocity and inhumanity 
of tiie public spectacles. Theatrical entertainments were in high 
request. • (Sect. XXXVI, § 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.) The taste for pantomime 
came to such a height, that the art was taught in public schools, and 
the nobility and people wore divided into parties in favour of the 
rival performers; an abuse which called at length for the interposi- 
tion of the laws. ; 

6. From the porticoes, or from the theatre and amphitheatre, it was 
customary to go to the baths, of which there were many for the use 
of the public. The rich had baths in their own houses, vying with 
each other in this as in every otlier article of luxury or magnificence. 
From the bath they went immediately to supper, generally about the 
ninth or tenth liour, counting from sunrise. At table they reclined 
on couche-. The luxury of the Roman suppers far exceeded every 
thing known among the modems. An untccaniviti of pickles and 
spices was presented to prepare and sharpen the appetite. Cook- 
ery became a science. The number ana costliness of the di?hes 
were incredible. The entertainment was heightened by every thing 
gratifying to the senses; by male and female dancers, musicians, 
pantotuimes, and even shows of gladiatoi"s. 

7. In the onti of the repubhc pleasure and amusement were the 
darling object of all ranks of the citizens: they souglit no more than 
paneiii et circciuies [bread and games in the circM). 



SECTION XXXIX. 

OF TIIE ART OF WAR AMONG THE ROMANS. 

1. From the prodigious success which attended the arms of the 
Romans, and the dominion which they acquired over the greater 

{)art of the knov.n Avorld, it seems a natural inference that they must 
lave excelled all the contemporary nations in the military art. Vege- 
tiuo expressly assigns their extensive conquests to that cause alone. 
It is the discipline of an army that makes a multitude act as one man. 
It likewise increases tlie courage of troops ; for each individual con- 
fides in the steady co-operation of his fellows. 

2. From the constant practice of athletic exercises, the Romans 
were inured from infancy to hardiness and fatigue, and bred to that 
species of life, which a soldier leads in the most active campaign in 
tlie field. 

3. The levies were made annually, by the tribes called out, and 
divided into their -respective number of centuries; each century pre- 
senting by rotation, as many soldiers as there were legions intended 
to be raised; luid the tribuues of the several legions takiog their tmn 

G2 



78 ANCIENT HISTORY, 

by rotation in the selection of the men presented by the centnries. 
(Sect. XXIV, § 16.) The number of soldiers in the legion was vari- 
ous at diiferent periods, from 3,000 to 10,000 and 11,000. 

4. Among the ancient nations there were usually two different 
arrangements of the troops in order of battle. One the phalanx, 
or close arrangement in a rectangular form, intersected only by 
great divisions ; a dnposition commonly used by the Greeks, and 
by most of the barbarous nations. The other the quincunx or 
chequer, consisting of small companies or platoons, disposed in three 
straight lines, wiili alternate spaces between the companies equal 
to the space occupied by each company. In the iirst line were the 
hastuti, in the second the pnncipts, and in the third the tnorii. On 
the danks of the (irst line wore the cavalry, in detached companies; 
and in front of the line were the velites, or light-armed troops, who 
usually beg.m with a skirmishing attack, and then were withdrawn, to 
make \vay lor the main body to come into action. The advantages 
of this arrangement were, that the line of battle could be three 
times Ibrmed with fresh troops, and that it was more adapted than 
any other for rani.i changes of movement. In the Komtm legion, 
the arms of the lunlali and principes were the pilum or heavy jave- 
lin, and the swoi'd and buckler ; and of the triarii, the long spear, 
with the sword and buckler. 

5. Notwithstanding these advantages the quincunx went into disuse 
toward the end of the republic, and from that time various arrange- 
ments of the legion were used according to circumstances. 'iTie 
Roman tactics are supposed to have been at their greatest pitch of 
excellenco' during the Punic wars. Hannibal was a great master of 
the science of tactics; and the Romans profited by the experience 
of his ability. The battle of Canna^, as described by I'olybius, 
affords signal" evidence of the great talents of the Carthaginian gen- 
eral. The description of that battle hits been misrepresented by 
Folard ; but it is accurately explained in the Mcinoires Militaircs of 
M. Guischardt. If the quincunx disposition had been kept by the 
Roman army in that engagement, the event might have been very 
different; for it would have disappointed the eflisct of an artful 
manoeuvre planned by Hannibal, on observing liis enemy's army 
arranged in the unusual order of the phalanx. 

6. The art of ititrenchment was carried to perfection by the Ro- 
mans, particularlyby JuUus Caisar. With 60,000 men he defended 
himself in his intreilchments before Alexia, while the lines of cir- 
cumvail.iUon were attacked by 2 40,000 Gauls, and the lines of counter- 
vallation by 80,000, without effect. These intrenchments consisted 
of a ditch irom nine to tiitcen feet in depth and width, fenced on the 
inside by the mound of excavated earth, and on the outside by strong 
stakes with pointed branches. 

7. In besieging a town several camps were formed round the 
place, joined to one another by lines of circumvallation and coun- 
lervallation. A mound of earth {agger) was raised, beginning by a 
gentle slope from one of the camps, and gradually rising in elevation 
as it approached the city. The front, where the workmen were 
employed, was defended by a curtain of hides fixed on strong posts. 
On this motind the engines of attack, catapu!t(£ and halistce, were 
advanced, till they played on the very spot which the besiegers wish- 
ed to assail. The cataptiltce discharged heavy stones, the balistce 
arrows. The same machines were used by the besieged for annoy- 
ing the enemy. When the engines on the terrace had driven the 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 79 

besieged from the walls, the battering-ram {aries) was then brought 
up under a pent-house (testudo) ; and, if it once reached the wall, was 
generally decisive of tne fate of the town. The main object ol" the 
resieged was therefore to prevent its approach by every power of 
annoyance. Stones, darts, and combustible matters were continually 
launched upon the assailants ; and sometimes a mine was dug from 
the city to scoo]j away the terrace and all its engines. These arts 
of attack anil defence of fortified places were in genenil use among 
the nations of antiquity, and continued down to modern times, till tlic 
invention of gunpowder. 

8. The naval military art was utterly unknown among the Ro- 
mans till the first Punic war. A Carthaginian galley was the first 
model of a vessel of war. In the space of two months they equipped 
a tlcet of 100 gallies of five banlvs of oars, and 20 of three banks. 
The structure of those gallies, and 'the mode of arranging ll»e row- 
ers, may be learned from the ancient sculptures and medals. The 
comliatants at sea assailed at a distance with javelins, missile com- 
bustibles, and sometimes with cuiapulUe and balist(e; but the serious 
attack was made in boarding, when the vessels were grappled by 
means of a crane let down from the prow. 

9. In the times of the empire, the Romans maintained their distant 
conquests, not only by their armies, but by their fleets. The ships 
were moored in the large rivei-s and bays ; and both the legions and 
the fleets generally prcsor\ed a fixed station. 



SECTION XL. 

REFLECTIONS ARI.«ING FROM A VIEW OF THE ROMAN HIS- 
TORY DURING THE COMMONWEALTH. 

L The history of all nations evinces, that there is an inseparable 
connexion between the morals of a people and their political pros- 
perity. But we have no stronger demonstration of this truth tliaa 
the annals of the Roman commonwealth. To limit to republics alone 
the necessity of virtue as a principle, is a cliimcricai notion, fraught 
with dangerous consequences. Quid leges silWinorihus -i-ame pnyfici- 
vnt ? {lioas wilhoitt morals avail notuiiig) is a sentiment equally appli- 
cable to ail governments; and no political system, however excellent 
it* fabric, can possess any measure of duration, without that poAver- 
ful cement, virtue, in the principles and manners of the people. (Sect. 
XIX, 6 4.) 

2. The love of our country, and the desire for its rational liberty, 
are noble and virtuous feelings ; and their prevalence is ever a test 
of the integrity of the national morals. But no term has been more 
prostituted than the word liberty. In a corrupted people the cry for 
liberty is heard the loudest among the most profligate of the commu- 
nity. With these its meaning has no relation to patriotism ; it im- 
ports no more than the aversion to restraint ; and the personal char- 
acter of the demagogue, and the private morals of his disciples, are 
always sufiicierit to unmask the counterfeit. The spirit of patriot- 
ism and a general corruption of manners cannot possibly be coexis- 
tent in the same age and nation. 

3. On the other hand, while the morals of a people are pure, no 
public misfortune is irretrievable, nor any political situation so des- 
])erate, that hope may not remain of a favourable change. In such 
situations the spirit of patriotism pervading all ranks of the state will 



80 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

soon recover the national prosperity. Thie liistory of the Roman peo- 
ple, and that of the Grecian states, in various crises, both of honour 
and of disgrace, affords proofs alike of this position and of its converse. 

4. The national character of tlie Romans seems to have under- 
gone its most remarkable change for the worse from the time of the 
destruction of their rival, Carthage. Sallust assigns the cause. Jlnie 

Cartlmginem deletain, metus hoslilis in bonis urtibus civitatein retinebat. 

Scd ubi Uluforinido inenlibits decessit, scilicet ea qiue secitndce res ainant^ 

lascivia atque superbia invaserc. Before the destruction cfCartJwge^ 

the fear of their enemy kept the people in the practice of virtue ; but when 
the restraint if fear ceased to injiuence their conduct^ they abandoned them- 
selves to profligacy and arrogance, the usual concomitants of prosperity. 

5. In the last ages of the commonwealth, avarice and ambition, 
unrestrained by moral principle, were the ciiief motives of the Ro- 
man conquests. It was suthcient reason for going to war, that a 
country otfered a tempting object to the rapacity and ambition of 
the military leaders. The conquest of Italy paved the way for the 
reduction of foreign nations. Hence the Romans imported, with their 
wealth, the manners, the luxuries, and the vices of the nations which 
they subdued. The generals returned not as formerly, alter a suc- 
cessful war, to the labours of the held, and to a life of temperance 
and industry. They were now the gavernors of kingdoms and prov- 
inces ; and at the period of their command abroad, disdainiug the 
restraints of a subject, they could be satished with nothing less than 
sovereignty at home. 'Ihe armies, debauched by the plunder of 
kingdoms, were completely disposed to support them in all their 
schemes of ambition ; and the populace, won by corruption, always 
took part with the chief who best could pay for their favour and 
support. Force or bribery o^'erruled every election ; and the in- 
habitants of distant states, now holding the right of citizens, were 
brought to Rome, at the command of the demagogue^ to influence 
any popular contest, and turn the scale in his favour. In a govei'n- 
ment thus irretrievably destroyed by the decay of those springs 
which supported it, it was of little consequence by what particular 
tyrant, usurper, or demagogue, its ruin was hnally accomplished. 

G. From a consideration of the rise and lall of the principal states 
of antiquity, it has been a commonly received opinion, that the con- 
stitution of empires has, like the human body, a period of growth, 
maturity, decline, and extinction. But arguments from analogy are 
extremely decciilid, and particularly so when the analogy is from 
physical to moral truths. The liuman boily is, from its fabric, natu- 
rally subject to decay, and is perpetually undergoing a change from 
time. Its organs, at tirst weak, attain gradually their perfect 
strength, and Ihence, by a similar gradation, proceed to decay and 
dissohition. This is an immutable law of its nature. But the springs 
of the body politic do not necessarily undergo a perpetual change 
from time. It is not regularly progressive from weakness to strength, 
and Ihence to decay and dissolution ; nor is it under the influence 
of any principle of corruption which may not be checked, and even 
eradicated, by wholesome laws. Thus the beginning of the cor- 
ruption of Sparta is attributed to Lysander's breach of the institu- 
tions of Lycurgus, in introducing gold into the treasury of the state 
instead of its iron money. But was this a necessary, or an unavoid- 
able measure ? Perhaps a single vote in the senate decreed its adop- 
tion, and therefore another suffrage might have prevented, or long 
postponed, the downlal of the coinmonu ealth. The Roman repub- 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 81 

lie owed its dissolution to the extension of its dominions. If it had 
been a capital crime for any Roman citizen to have proposed to 
carry the arms of the republic beyond the limits of Italy, its consti- 
tution might have been preserved for many ages beyond the period 
of its actual duration. " Accustom your mind," said Phocion to 
Aristias, " to discern, in the fate of nations, that recompense which 
the great Author of nature has annexed to the practice of virtue. 
No state ever ceased to be prosperous, but in consequence of having 
departed from those institutions to which she owed her prospeiity.'' 
History indeed has shown that all states and empires have had their 
period of duration ; but history, instructing us in the causes which 
have produced their decline and fall, inculcates also this salutary 
lesson, that nations are in general the masters of their own destiny, 
and that they may, and most certainly ought to, aspire at immortality. 
7. It was a great desideratum in ancient politics, that a government 
should possess within itself the power of periodical reformation; a 
capacity of checking any overgrowth oi^ authority in any of its 
branches, and of winding up the machine, or bringing back the con- 
stitution to its first principles. To the want of such a power in the 
states of antiquity (which they ineflectually endeavoured to supply 
by such partial contrivances as the ostracism and petalism) we may 
certainly ascribe, in no small degree, the decay of those states ; for 
in their governments, when the balance was once destroyed, the 
evil grew worse from day to day, and admitted no remedy but a 
revolution, or entire change of the system. The British constitu- 
tion possesses this inestimable advantage over all the governments 
both of ancient and modern times, with the single exception of the 
government of the United States of America. Besides the perpetual 
jjower ol" reform vested in parliament, the constitution may be puri- 
fied of every abuse, and brougfit back to its first principles, at the 
commencement of every reign. But of this we shall afterwards 
treat in its proper place. 



SECTION XLI. 
ROME UNDER THE EMPERORS. 

1. The battle of Actium decided the fate of the commonwealth^ 
and Octavius, now named Augustus, was master of the Roman 
empire, lie possessed completely the sagacity of discerning what 
character was best fitted for gaining the affections of the people 
whom he governed, and the versatility of temper and genius to as- 
sume it. His virtues, though the result of policy, not of nature, were 
certainly favourable to the happiness, and even to the liberties of 
his subjects. The fate of C;psar warned him of the insecurity of a 
usurped dominion ; and therefore, while he studiously imitated the 
engaging manners and clemency of his great predecessor, he affect- 
ed a much higher degree of moderation, and respect for the rights of 
the people. 

2. The temple of Janus was shtit, which had been open for 1 88 
years, since the beginning of the second Punic war ; an event pro- 
ductive of universal joy. " The Romans fsays Condillac) now be- 
lieved themselves a free people, since they nad no longer to fight for 
their liberty." The sovereign kept up this delusion, by maintaining 
the ancient forms of the republican constitution, in the election of 

11 



82 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

magistrates, &.C., though they were nothing more -than forms. He 
even pretended to consider his own function as merely a temporary 
administration for the public benefit. Invested with the consulate 
and censorsliip, he went through the regular forms of periodical 
election to those olfeces, and at the end of the seventh year of his 
government actually announced to the senate his resignation of all 
authority. The consequence was a general supplication of the sen- 
ate and people, that he would not abandon the republic, which he 
had saved from destruction. " Since it must be so," said he, " I accept 
the empire for ten years, unless the public tranquillity shall, before 
the expiration of that time, permit me to enjoy retirement, which 
1 passionately long for." He repeated the same mockery live times 
in the course of his government, accepting the administration some- 
times for ten, and sometimes only ior iive years. 

3. It was much to the credit of Augustus, that in the government 
of the empire he reposed unlimited confidence in Mecaenas, a most 
able minister, who' had sincerely at heart the interest and happiness 
of the people. By his excellent counsels all public affairs were con- 
ducted, and the most salutary laws enacted for the remedy of public 
grievances, and even the correction of the morals of the people. 
To his patronage literature and the arts owed their encouragement 
and advancement. By his influence and wise instructions Augustus 
assumed those virtues to which his heart was a stranger, and 
which, in their tendency to the happiness of his subjects, were 
equally effectual as if they had been the genuine fruits of his nature. 

4. On the death of jMarcellus, the nepliew and son-in-law of Au- 
gustus, and a prince of great hopes, 23 A. C, the emperor bestowed 
his chief favour on Marcus Agrippa, giving him his daughter Julia, 
the widow of Marcellus, in marriage. Agrippa had considerable 
military talents, and was successful in accomplishing the reduction of 
Spain, and subduing the revolted provinces of Asia. Augustus as- 
sociated Agrippa with himself in the oilice of censor, and would prob- 
ably have given him a share of the empire, if his death had not 
occasioned a new arrangement. J ulia now took for her third husband 
Tiberius, who became the> son-in-law of the emperor by a double 
tie, for Augustus had previously njarried his mother Livia. This 
artful woman, removing atl of the imperial family who stood betwixt 
her and the ol)ject of her ambition, thus made room for the succes- 
sion of her son Tiberius, whOj on iiis part, bent all his attention to gain 
the favour and conhdence of Augustus. On the return of Tiberius 
from a successful campaign against the Germans, the people were 
made to solicit the emperor to confer on him the government of the 
provinces and the command of the armies. Augustus now gradually 
withdrew himself from the cares of empire. He died soon after at 
Nola, in Campania, in the 7Gth year of his age, and the 44th of his 
imperial reign, A. U. C. 7l;7, and A. D. 14. 

5. A considerable part of the lustre thro^vn on the reign of Augus- 
tus is owing to the splendid colouring bestowed on his character by 
the poets and other authors who adorned his court, and repaid his 
favours by their adulation. Other sovereigns of much higher merits 
have been less fortunate in obtaining the applause of posterity. 

— Illacrymabiles 

Urguentur, ig'notique, tonga 

Nocte, caieiit quia vate sacro. HoR. Car. Lib. IV, 9. 

Unlamented and unknown tliey sinli into oblivion, because they have no 
iQspired bard to celebrate their praise. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 83 

One great event distinguished the reign of Augustus, tlie birth of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which, according to the best 
authorities, happened A. U. C. 754, and four years before the vulgar 
date of the christian aera.* 

5. Augustus had named Tiberius his heir, together with his moth- 
er Livia; and had suostitutedto them Drusus, the son of Tiberius, 
and Germanicus. Tiberiuawas vicious, debauched, and cruof; yet 
the very dread of his character operated in securing an easy suc- 
cession to the empire. An embassy from the senate entreated him 
to accept the government, which he modestly affected to decline, 
but sutfered himself to be won by their supplications. Notwithstand- 
ing these symptoms of moderation, it soon appeared that the power 
enjoyed by his predecessor was too limited for the ambition of Ti- 
berias. It was not enough that the substance of the republic was 
gone ; the very appearance of it was now to be demolished. The 
people were no longer assembled, and the magistrates of the state 
were supplied by the imperial will. 

6. Germanicus, the nephew of Tiberius, became the object of his 
jealousy, from the glory whicli he had acquired by his military ex- 

Kloits in Germany, and the high favour in which he stood with the 
Oman people. He was recalled in the midst of his successes, and 
despatched to the oriental provinces, where he soon after died ; and it 
was generally believed that he was poisoned by the emperors cona- 
mand. 

7. ^lius Sejanus, praefect of the prastorian guards, the favourite 
counsellor of Tiberius, and the obsec^uious minister of bis tyranny 
and crimes, conceived the daring project of a revolution, which 
should place himsell' on the tlirone, by the extermination of the whole 
imperial family. Drusus, the son of the emperor, was destroyed by 
poison. Agrippina, the v.idow of Germanicus, with her elder son, 
was banished ; 'and the younger son was confined in prison. Tibe- 
rius was persuaded by Sejanus, under the pretence ot the discovery 
of plots for his assassination, to retire from Rome to the Isle of 
CaprefE, and devolve the government upon his iaithful minister. 
But while Sejanus, thus far successful, meditated the last step to the 
accomplishment of his wishes, by the murder of his sovereign, his 
treason was detected ; and the emperor despatched his mandate to the 
senate, which was followed by his immediate sentence and execution. 
The public indignation was not satisfied with his death : the populace 
tore his body to pieces, and llung it into the Tiber. 

8. Tiberius now became utterly negligent of the cares of govern- 
ment, and the imperial power was displayed only in public execu- 
tions, confiscations, and scenes of cruelty and rapine. At length the 
tyrant falling sick was strangled in his bed by Macro, the praefect of 
the praetorian guards, in the 78th year of his age, and the 2.3d of his 
reign. 

9. in the 18th year of Tiberius, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
the divine author of our religion, suffered death upon the cross, a 
sacrifice and propitiation for the sins of mankind, A. D. 33. 

10. Tiberius had nominated tor his heir, Caligula the son of Ger- 
manicus, his grandson by adoption ; and had joined with him Tibe- 
rius the son of Drusus, his grandson by blood. The former enjoyed, 
on his fathers account, the lavour of the people ; and the senate, to 

* See Dr. Playfair''s System of Chronology, p. 49, 50, a -work of great 
iresearch and accuracy, and by far the best oa that subject. 



34 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

gratify them, set aside the right of his colleague, and conferred on 
liim the empire undivided. The commencement of his reign was 
signalized by a few acts of clemency, and even good policy. He 
restored the privileges of the comitia, and abolished ai'bitrary prose- 
cutions for crimes of state. But, tyrannical and cruel by nature, he 
substituted military execution for legal punishment. The provinces 
were loaded with the most oppressive taxes, and daily confiscations 
filled the imperial cotfei'S. 1 he follies and absurdities of Caligula 
were equal to his vices, and it is hard to say whether he was most the 
object of hatred or of contempt to his sul>jects. He perished by 
assassination in the fourth year of his reign, the twenty-ninth of his 
age, A. U. C. 794, A. JD. 42. 

11. Claudius, the uncle of Caligula, was saluted emperor by the 
praetorian guards, who had been the murderers of his nephew. He 
was the son of Octavia, the sister of Augustus ; a man ot weak in- 
tellects, and of no education. His short reign was marked by an 
enterprise of importance. He undertook the reduction of Britain, 
and after visiting the island in person, left his generals, Fiautius and 
Vespasian, to prosecute a war which was carried on for several years 
whh various success. The Silures or inhabitants of South Wales, 
under their king Caractacus (Cai^adoc), made a brave resistance, but 
were finally defeated ; and Caractacus was led captive to Rome, 
where the magnanimity of his demeanour procured him respect and 
admiration. 

12. The civil administration of Claudius was weak and contempt- 
ible. He was the slave even of his domestics, and the dupe of bi« in- 
famous wives Messalina and Agrippina. The former, abandoned to 
the most shameful profligacy, was at length but to death on suspi- 
cion of treasonable desigus. The latter, who was the daughter of 
Germanicus, bent her utmost endeavours to secure the succession to 
the empire to her son Domitiiis Oenol)ardus, and employed every 
engine of vice and inhumanity to remove the obstacles to the accom- 
plishment of her wishes. Having at length prevailed on Claudius to 
adopt her son, and confer on him the title of Caesar, to the exclusion 
of his own son Britannicus, she now made room for the immediate 
elevation of Domitius, by poisoning her husband. Claudius was 
put to death in the 15th year of his reign, and the 63d of his age. 



SECTION XLII. 

1. The son of Agrippina assumed the title of Nero Claudius. He 
had enjoyed the benefit of a good education under the philosopher 
Seneca, but reaped from his instructions no other fruit than a pedan- 
tic affectation of taste and learning, with no real pretension to either. 
While controled by his tutor Seneca, and by Burriius, captain of 
the praetorian guards, a man of worth and ability, Nero maintained 
for a short time a decency of public conduct ; but the restraint was 
intolerable, and nature soon broke out. His real character was a 
compound of every thing that is base and inhuman, la the murder 
of his mother Agrippina he revenged the crime which she had 
committed in raising him to the throne; he rewarded the fidelity 
of Burrhus, by poisoning him; and as a last kindness to his tumr 
Seneca, he allowed him to choose the mode oi his death. It was his 
darling amusement to exhibit on the stage and amphitheatre as an 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 85 

actor, musician, or gladiator. At length, become the object of 
universal hatred and contempt, a rebellion of his subjects, headed by 
V index, an illustrious Gaul, hurled this monster from the throne. 
He had not courage to attempt resistance ; and a slave, at his own 
request, despatched him with a dagger. Nero perished in the 30th 

\ year of his age, after a reign of fourteen years, A. D. 69. 

2. Galba, the successor of Nero, was ot an ancient and illustrious 
family. He was in the 73d year of his age when the senate, ratify- 
ing the choice of the praetorian bands, proclaimed him emperor. 
Rut an impolitic rigour of discipline soon disgusted the army ; the 
avarice ot his disposition, grudging the populace their favourite 
games and spectacles, deprived him of their affections; and some 
iniquitous prosecutions and confiscations excited general discontent 

. and mutiny. Galba, adopted and designed for his successor the able 

y and virtuous Piso; a measure which excited the jealousy of Otho, 

, his former favourite, and led him to form the daring plan of raising 
himself to the throne by the destruction of both. He found the 
piai^torians apt to his purpose. They proclaimed him emperor, and 

' presented him, as a grateful oifering, the heads of Galba and riso, 
who were slain in quelling the insurrection. Galba had reigneci 

^ seven months. Major pnvato visus^ duia privatusfuU^ ct omnium con- 
sensu capax imperii^ nisi impcrasset. Tacitus. He appeared to be greater 

^ than a private man, while he was in a private station ; and by the consent 
of' all zeas capable ryf governing^ if lie had not governed. 

L 3.tOtho had a formidable rival in Vitellius, who had been pro- 

' claimed emperor by his army in Germany. It is hard to say which 
of the competitors was, in point of abilities, the more despicable, or 
in character the more infamous. A decisive battle was fought at 
Bedriacum, near IMantua, where Otho was defeated, and in a tit of 

!• despair ended his life by his own hand, after a reign of three months, 
A. U. 70. 

1. The reign of Vitellius was of eight months' duration. He is 
s;iid to have proposed Nero for his model, and it was just that he 

,. should resemble him in his fate. Vespasian had obtained Irom Nero 
the charge of the war against the Jews, which he had conducted 
^vith ability and success, and was proclaimed emperor by his troops 
in the east. A great part of Italy submitted to Vespaisiari's generals; 
and Vitellius meanly capitulated to save his life, by a resignation of 

" the empire. The people, indignant at his dastardly spirit, compelled 
him to an effort of resistance ; but the attempt was fruitless. Priscus, 
one of the generals of Vespsisian, took possession of Home ; and 
Vitellius was massacred, and bis body tlung into the Tiber. 

V 6. Vespasian, though of mean descent, was worthy of the empu^, 
and reigned with high popularity for ten years. He possessed great 
clemency of disposition. His manners were affable and engaging, 
and his mode of life was characterized by simplicity and frugality. 

, He respected the ancient forms of the constitution, restored the sen- 
ate to its delibei^ative rights, and acted by its authority in the admin- 
istration of all public altairs. The only blemish in his character was 
a tincture of avarice, and even that is greatly extenuated by the 
laudable and patriotic use which he made of his revenues. Dnder 

' his reign, and oy the arms of his son Titus, was terminated the war 
against tlie Jews. They had been brought under the yoke of Rome 
bj Pompey, who took Jerusalem. They were governed for some 
time by Herod, as viceroy under Augustus. The tyranny of his son 
Archelaus was the cause of his banishment, and of^the reduction of 
H 



86 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

Judaea into the ordinary condition of a Roman province. The Jew8 
rebelled on every slight occasion, and Nero had sent Vespasian to 
reduce them to order. He had just prepared for the siege of Jeru- 
salem, when he was called to Rome to assume the government of the 
empire. Titus wished to spare the city, and tried every means 
to prevail on the Jews to suirender ; but in vain. Their ruin was 
decreed by Heaven. After an obstinate blockade of six months 
Jerusalem was taken by storm, the temple burnt to ashes, and the 
city buried in ruins. The Roman empire was now in prolbnnd 
peace. V^espasian associated Titus in the imperial dignity, and 
soon after died, universally lamented, at the age of sixty-nine. A.. 
D. 79. 

6. The character of Titus was humane, munificent, dignified, and 
splendid. His short reign was a period of great happiness and 
prosperity to the empire, and his government a constant example of 
virtue, justice, and beneficence. In his time happened that dreadful 
eruption of Vesuvius, which overwhelmed the cities of Herculaneum 
and Pompeii. The public losses from these calamities he repaired 
by the sacrifice of his fortune and revenues. He died in the third 
year of his reign, and fortieth of his age ; ever to be remembered 
by that most exalted epithet, delicm hur/umi getieris {tfie delight of 
nutiikind). 

7. Domitian,the brother of Titus, was suspected of murdering him 
by poison, and succeeded to the empire, A. I). 81. He was a vicious 
and inhuman tyrant. A rebellion in Germany gave him occasion 1o 
signalize the barbarity of his disposition; and its consequences were 
long felt in the sanguinary punishments inflicted under the pretence 
of justice. The prodigal and voluptuous spirit of this reign was a 
singular contrast to its tyranny and inliumaiiity. The people were 
loaded with insupportable taxes to furnish spectacles and games for 
their amusement. The successes of Agricola in Britain threw a 
lustre on the Roman arms, no part of which reflected on the emperor, 
for he treated this eminent commander with the basest ingratitude. 
After fifteen tedious years this monster foil at last the victim of assas- 
sination, the empress herself conducting the plot ior his murder, A. 
D. 96. 

8. Cocceius Nerva, a Cretan by birth, was chosen emperor by the 
senate, from respect to the probity and virtues of his character. 
He was too old for the burden of government, and of a temper too 
placid for the restraint of rooted corruptions and enormities. His 
reign was weak, inefficient, and contemptible. His only act of real 
merit as a sovereign, was the adoption of the virtuous Trajan as his 
successor. Nerva died after a reign of sixteen months, A. D. 98. 

9. Ulpius Trajanus possessed every talent and every virtue that 
can adorn a sovereign. Of great military abilities, and an indefatiga- 
ble spirit of enterprise, he raised the Roman arms to their ancient 
splendour, and greatly enlarged the boundaries of the empire. 1 le 
subdued the Dacians, conquered the Parthians, and brought under 
subjection Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Arabia Felix. Nor was he less 
eminent in promoting the happiness of his subjects, and the internal 
prosperity of the empire. His largesses were humane and munifi- 
cent. He was the friend and support of the virtuous indigent, and 
the liberal patron of every useful art and talent. His bounties were 
supplied by well judged economy in his private fortune, and a v, ise 
administration of the public finances. In his own life he was a man 
of simple manners, modest, affable, fond of the familiar intercour^< 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 87 

of his friends, and sensible to ail the social and benevolent affections. 
He merited the surname universally bestowed on him, Trajanus 
Optimus. He died at the age of sixty-three, after a glorious reign of 
nineteen years, A. D. 118. 

10. iElius Adrianus, nephew of Trajan, and worthy to fill his place, 
was chosen emperor by the army in the east, and his title was 
acknowledged by all orders of the state. He adopted a policy differ- 
ent from that of his predecessor. Judging the limits ot the empire 
too extensive, he abandoned all the conquests of Trajan bounding 
the eastern provinces by the Euphrates. He visited in person all the 
provinces ot the empire, reforming in his progress all abuses, reliev- 
ing his subjects of every oppressive burden, rebuilding the ruined 
cities, and establishing every where a regular and mild administra- 
tion, under magistrates of approved probity and humanity. He gave 
a discharge to the indigent debtors ot the state, and appointed liberal 
institutions for the education of the children of the poor. To the 
talents of an able politician he joined an excellent taste in the liberal 
arts. His reign, which w;is of twenty-two years' duration, was an ajra 
both of public happiness and splendour. In the last year of his life 
he bequeathed to the empire a double legacy, in adopting for his 
immediate successor Titus Aurelius Antoninus, and substituting An- 
nius Verus to succeed upon his death. These were the Antonines, 
who during forty yeare ruled the Roman empire with consummate 
wisdom, abihty, and virtue. Adrian died A. D. 138, at the age ot" 
sixty-two. 

SECTION XLIII. 

AGE OF THE ANTONINES, &c. 

1. The happiest reigns furnish the fewest events for the pen of 
history. Antoninus was the father of his people. He preferred 
peace to the ambition of conquest ; yet in every necessary war 
the lloman arms had their wonted renown. The British province 
was enlarged by the conquests of Urbicus, and some fonnidable 
rebellions were subdued in Germany, Dacia, and the east. The 
domestic administration of the sovereign was dignitied, splendid, and 
humane. With all the virtues of Numa, his love of religion, peace, 
and justice, he had the superior advantage of diffusing these blessings 
over a great portion of the world. He died at the age of sevenlj'- 
four, alter a reign of twenty-two years, A. D. 161. 

2. \unius V^erus assumed, at his accession, the name of Marcus 
Aurelius Antoninus, and bestowed on his brother Lucius A'erus a joint 
administration of the empire. The former wiis as eminent for tlie 
worth and virtues of his chanicter, as tlie latter was remarkable for 
prodigacy, meanness, and vic«\ Maicus Aurelius was attached both 
by nature and education to the Stoical philosophy, which he has ad- 
mirably taught and illustrated in his Meditatiom. His own life \v;!s 
the best commentary on his precepts. The Parthians were repulsed 
in an attack upon tne empire, and a rebelUon of the Germans was 
subdued. In these wars the mean and worthless Verus brought dis- 
grace upon the Roman name in every region where he commanded ; 
but fortunately relieved the empire of its fears by an early death. 
The residue of the reign of Marcus Aurelius was a continued bless- 
ing to his subjects. He relbrmed the internal policy of the state, 
regulated the government of the provinces, and visited himself, lur 



68 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

the purposes of beneficence, the most distant quarters of his domin- 
ions. "He appeared," says an ancient author, " hke some benevo- 
lent deity, diffusing around him universal peace and happiness." He 
died in Pannonia, in the 59th year of his age, and 19th of his reign, 
A. D. 180. 

3. Commodus, his most unworthy son, succeeded to the empire 
on his death. He resembled in character his mother Faustina, a 
woman infamous for all manner of vice. Her profligacy was known 
to all but her husband Marcus, by whom she was regarded as a para- 
gon of virtue. Commodus had an aversion to every rational and 
liberal piirsuit, and a fond attachment to the sports of the circus and 
umphitlicatre, the hunting of wild beasts, and the combats of boxers 
and gladiatoi-s. The measures of this reign were as unimportant as 
the character of the sovereign was contemptible. His concubine and 
some of his chief officers prevented their own destruction by assas- 
sinating tjie tyrant, in the 32d year of his age, and 13th of his 
reign, A. D. 193. 

4. The praetorian guards gave the empire to Publius Helvius 
rerlinax, a man of mean birtn, who had risen to esteem by his vir- 
tues and military talents. He applied himself with zeal to the cor- 
rection of abiLses; but the austerity of his government deprived him 
of the affections of a corrupted people. He had disappointed the 
anny of a promised reward, and, after a reign of eighty-six days, 
was murdered in the imperial palace by the same hands which had 
placed him on the throne. 

5. The empire was now put up to auction by the praetorians, and 
was purchased by Didius JuHanus ; while Pescenius Niger in Asia, 
Clodius Albinus in Britain, and Septimius Severus in Illyria, were 
each chosen emperor by the troops which they commanded. Se- 
verus marched to Rome, and, on his approach, the praetorians aban- 
doned Didius, who had failed to pay the stipulated price lor his ele- 
vation ; and the senate formally deposed to put him to death. Seve- 
rus Ijeing now master of Rome, prepared to reduce the provinces 
Avhich had acknowledged the sovereignty of Niger and Albinus. 
These two rivals were successively subdued. Niger was slain in 
battle, and Albinus fell by his own hands. The administration of Se- 
verus was wise and equitable, but tinctured with despotic rigour. 
It Avas his purpose to erect the fabric of absolute monarchy, and all 
his institutions operated with able policy to that end. He possessed 
eminent military talents. He gloriously boasted, that, having re- 
ceived the empire oppiessed with foreign and domestic wars, he left 
it in profound, universal, and honourable peace. He carried with 
him into Britain his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, whose unpromis- 
ing dispositions clouded his latter days. In this war the Caledonians 
imder Fingal are said to have defeated, on the banks of the Carron, 
Caracul, the son of the king of the world. Severus died at York, in 
the 66th year of his age, after a reign of eighteen years, A. D. 211. 

G. The mutual haired of Caracalla and Geta was increased by 
tlieir association in the empire ; and the former, with brutal inhu- 
manity, caused his brother to be openly murdered in the arms of his 
mother. His reign, which was of six years' duration, and one con- 
tinued series of atrocities, was at length terminated by assassination, 
A.D. 217. 

7. Those disorders in the empire which began with Commodus 
continued for about a century, till the accession of Diocletian. That 
interval was filled by the reigns of Heliogabalus, Alexander Severusj 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 89 

Maximin, Gordian, Decius, Gallus, Valerianus, Gallienus, Claudius, 
Aurelianus, Tacitus, Probus, and Carus ; a period of which the an- 
nals furnish neither amusement nor useful information. The single 
exception is the reign of Alexander Severus, a mild, beneficent, and 
enligljtened prince, whose character shines the more from the con- 
trast of those who preceded and followed him. 

8. Diocletian began his reign A. D. 284, and introduced a new 
system of administration, dividing the empire into four governments, 
under as many princes. Maximian shared with him the title of 
Augustus, and Galerius andConstantius were declared Cssars. Each 
had his separate department or province, all nominally supreme, but 
in reality under the direction of the superior talents and authority of 
Diocletian : an unwise policy, which depended for its efficacy on 
individual ability alone. Diocletian and Maximian, trusting to the 
continuance of that order in the empire which their vigour had 
established, retired from sovereignty, and left the government in the 
hands of the CjEsars; but Constantius died soon alter in Britain, and 
his son Constantine was proclaimed emperor at York, though Gale- 
rius did not acknowledge his title. Maximian, however, having once 
more resumed the purple, bestowed on Constantine his daughter in 
marriage, and thus invested him with a double title to empire. On 
the death of Maximian and Galerius, Constantine had no other com- 
petitor but Maxentius, the son of the former, and the contest between 
them was decided by the sword. Maxentius fell in battle, and Con- 
stantine remained sole master of the empire. 

9. The administration ot jConstantirie nvas. in the beginning of his 
reign, mild, equitable, and poFitic. Thougn zealously attached to 
the cnristian faith, he made no violent innovations on the religion of 
the state."- He introduced order and economy into the civil govern- 
ment, and repressed every species of oppression and corruption. 
But his natural temper was severe and cruel, and the latter part of 
his reign was as miich deformed by intolerant zeal and sanguinary 
rigour, as the former had been remarkable for equity and benignity- 
From this unfavourable change of character he lost the affections of 
his subjects ; and, from a feeling probably of reciprocal disgust, he 
removed the seat of the Roman empire to Byzantium, now termed 
Constantinople. The court followed the sovereign; the opulent 
proprietors were attended by their slaves and retainci's. Rome was 
in a few years greatly depopulated, and the new capital swelled at 
once to enormous magnitude. It was characterized by eastern 
splendour, luxury, and voluptuousness; and the cities of Greece 
were despoiled for its embellishments. Of the internal policy of 
the empire we shall treat in the next section. In an expediiion 
against the Persians, Constantine died at Nicomedia, in the 3Uth 
year of his reign, and 63d of his age, A. D. 337. In the time of 
Constantine the Goths had made several irruptions on the empire, 
and, though repulsed and beaten, began gradually to encroach on 
the provinces. 

H2 12 



90 ANCIENT HISTORY. 



SECTION XLIV. 

STATE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT THE TIME OF CON- 

STANTINE. HIS SUCCESSORS. 

1. In lieu of the ancient republican distinctions, which were 
founded chietly on personal merit, a rigid subordination of rank and 
ofKce now went through all the orders of the state. The magis- 
trates were divided into three classes, distinguished by the unmean- 
ing titles of, l,the illustrious; 2, the respectable; 3, the darissimi. 
The epithet of illustrious was bestowed on, 1, the consuls and patri- 
cians ; 2, the praetorian praefects of Rome and Constantinople ; 3, the 
masters-general of the cavalry and infantry ; 4, the seven ministers 
of the palace. The consuls were created by the sole authority of 
the emperor : their dignity was ineffi("ient ; they had no appropriate 
function in the state, and their names served only to give the legal 
date to the year. The dignity of patrician was not, as in ancient 
times, a hereditary distinction, but was bestowed, as a title of honour,^ 
by the emperor on his favourites. From the time of the abolition oi 
the pi"aetorian bands by Coastantine, the dignity of praetorian prae- 
fect was conferred on the civil governors of the four departments ot 
the empire. These were, the East, lllyria, Italy, and the Gauls. 
They had the supreme administration of justice and of the tinances, 
the power of supplying all the inferior magistracies in their district, 
and an appellative jurisdiction from all Its tribunals. Independent 
of their authority, Rome and Constantinople had each its own prae- 
fect, who was tlie chief magistrate of the city. In the second class, 
the respectable, were tlie proconsuls of Asia, Achaia, and Africa, 
and the military coiuites and duces, generals of the imperial armies. 
The third class, damsiini, comprehended the inferior governors 
and magistrates of the provinces, responsible to the prasfects and 
their deputies. 

2. The intercourse between the court and provinces was main- 
tained by the construction of roads, and the institution of regular 
posts or couriers ; under which denomination were ranked the num- 
berless spies of government, whose duty was to convey all sort of 
intelligence from the remotest quarter of the empire to its chief 
seat. Every institution was calculated to support the fabric of des- 
potism. Torture was employed lor the discovery of crimes. Taxes 
and impositions of every nature were prescribed and levied by the 
sole authority of the emperor. The quantity and rate were lixed by a 
census made over all the provinces, and part was generally paid in 
monev, part in the produce of the lands; a burden frequently found 
so grievous as to prompt to the neglect of agriculture. Every ob- 
ject of merchandise and manufacture was likewise highly taxed. 
Subsidies, moreover, were exacted from all the cities, under the 
name of free gifts, on various occasions of public concerns ; as the 
accession of an emperor, his consulate, the birth of a prince, a victory 
over the barbarians, or any other event of similar importance. 

3. An impolitic distinction was made between the troops stationed 
in the distant provinces and those in the heart of the empire. The 
latter, termed palatines, enjoyed a higher pay and more peculiar 
favour, and, having less employment, scent their time in idleness and 
luxury ; while the former, terme^d the borderers, who, in fact, had the 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 91 

care of the empire, and were exposed to perpetual hard service, had, 
with an inferior reward, the mortiiication of feeling themselves re- 
garded as of meaner rank than their fellow-soldiers. Constantine like- 
wise, from a timid policy of guarding against mutinies of the troops, 
reduced the legion from its ancient complement of 5,000, 6,000, 
7,000, and 8,000, to 1,000 or 1,500 ; and debased the body of the 
army by the intermixture of Scythians, Goths, and Germans. 

4. This immense m;iss of heterogeneous parts, which internally 
laboured witli the seeds of dissolution and corruption, was kept to- 
gether for some time by the vigorous exertion ot despotic authority. 
The fabric was splendid and august ; but it wanted both that energy 
of constitution and that real dignity, which, in former times, it derived 
from the exercise of heroic and patriotic virtues. 

5. Constantine, with a destructive policy, had divided the empire 
among live princes, three of them his sons, and two nephews ; but 
Constantius, the youngest of the sons, tinally got rid of all his com- 
petitors, and ruled the empire alone with a weak and impotent scep- 
tre. A variety of domestic broils, and mutinies of the troops against 

I — their generals, had left the western frontier to the mercy of the bar- 
i barian nations. The Franks, Saxons, Alemanni, and Sarmatians, laid 
waste all the tine countries watered by the Rhine, and the Persians 
made dreadful incursions on the provinces of the east. Constantius 
indolently wasted his time in theological controvei-sies, but was pre- 
I vailed on to adopt one prudent measure, Uie appointment of his 
cousin Julian to the dignity of Caesar. 

6. Julian possessed many heroic qualities, and his mind was formed 
by nature tfjr the sovereignty of a great people ; but, educated at 
Athens, in the schools of the Platonic pTulosophy, he had unfortunately 
conceived a rooted antipathy to the doctrines of Christianity. With 
every talent of a general, and possessing tlie conlidence and affec- 
tion oi' his troops, he once more restored the glory of the Roman 
arms, and successfully repressed the invasions of the barbarians. 
His victories excited the jealousy of Constantius, who meanly re- 
solved to remove from his command the better part of his troops. The 

i consequence was a declaration of the army, that it was their choice 
that Julian should be their emperor. Constantius escaped the igno- 
miny that awaited him by dying at this critical juncture, and Julian 
was immediately acknowledged sovereign of the Roman empire. 

7. The reiormation of civil a}>i]ses formed the first object of his 
attention, which he next turned to the reformation, as he thought, 
of religion, by the suppression of Christianity. He beg.m by reform- 
ing the pagan theology, and sought to raise the character of its 

: priests, by inculcating purity of life and sanctity of morals; thus 

> bearing involuntary testimony to the superior excellence, in those 
respects, of that religion which he laboured to abolish. Without 
persecuting he attacked the christians by the more dangerous policy 
of treating them with contempt, and removing them, as visionaries, 

I from all employments of public trust. He refused them the benetit 
of the laws to decide their diflerences, because their religion forbade 
all dissensions ; and they were debarred the studies of literature and 
philosophy, which they could not learn but from pagan authors. ' He 
was himself, as a pagan, the slave of the most bigoted superstition, 

' believing in omens and auguries, and fancying himself favoured with 
an actual intercourse with the gods and goddesses. To avenge the 
injuries which the empire had sustained from the Persians, Julian 
marched into the heart of Asia, and was for some time in the train 



92 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

of conquest, when, in a fatal engagement, though crowned with 
victory, he was slain, at the age of thirty-one, after a reign of three 
years, A. D. 363. 

8. The Roman army was dispirited by the death of its commander. 
They chose for their emperor Jovian, a captain of the domestic 
guards, and purchased a free retreat from the dominions of Persia 
by the ignominious surrender of five provinces, which had been ceded 
by a former sovereign to Galerius. The short reign of Jovian, a 
period of seven months, was mild and equitable. He favoured Chris- 
tianity, and restored its votaries to all their privileges as subjects. 
He died suddenly at the age of thirty-three. 

9. Valentinian was chosen emperor by the army on the death of 
Jovian ; a man of obscure birth and severe manners, but of consider- 
able military talents. He associated with himself in the empire his 
l)rother Valens, to whom he gave the dominion of the easlern prov- 
inces, reserving to himself the western. The Persians, under Sapor, 
were making inroads on the former, and the latter was subject to 
continual invasion from the northern barbarians. They were suc- 
cessfully repelled by V^alentiniali in many battles ; and his domestic 
administration was wise, equitable, and politic. The christian reli- 
gion was favoured by the emperor, though not promoted by the 

f)ersecution of its adversaries ; a contrast to the conduct of his 
)rother Valens, who, intemperately supporting the Arian heresy, set 
the whole provinces in a flame, and dre^v a swarm ol' invaders upon 
tbe empire in the guise of friends and allies, who in the end entirely ' 
subverted it. These were tiie Goths, who, migrating from Scandi- 
navia, had, in the second century, settled on the banks of the Palus 
Moeotis, and thence gradually extended their territory, hi the reign of 
Valens they took possession of Dacia, and were known by the distinct 
appellation of Ostrogoths and Visigoths, or eastern and western Goths ; 
a remarkable people, whose manners, customs, government, and 
laws, are afterwards to be particularly noted. 

10. Valentinian died on an expedition against the Alemanni, and 
was succeeded in the empire of the west by Gratian, his eldest son, 
a boy of sixteen years ot age, A. D. 367. Valens, in the east, was 
the scourge of his people. 1 he Huns, a new race of barbarians, of 
Tartar or Siberian origin, now poured down on the provinces both 
of the west and east. The Goths, comparatively a civilized people, 
fled before them. The \ isigoths, who were first attacked, requested 
protection from the enipire, and Valens imprudently gave them a 
settlement in Thrace. The Ostrogoths made the same request, and, 
on refusal, forced their way into the same province. Valens gave 
them battle at Adrianopie. His army was defeated, and he was slain 
in the engagement. Tne Goths, unresisted, ravaged Achaia and Pau- 
nonia. 

11. Gratian, a youth of great T\'orih, but of little energy of char- 
acter, assumed Theodosius as his colleague. On the early death of 
Gralian, and the minority of his son Valentinian If, 1 heodosius 
governed, with great ability, both the eastern and western empire. 
The character of Theodosius, deservedly surnamed the great^ Avas 
worthy of the best ages of the Roman state. He successfully repell- 
ed the encroachments of the barbarians, and secured^ by wholesome 
laws, the prosperity of his people. He died, alter a reign of 
eighteen years, assigning to his sons, Arcadius and Honorius, the 
separate sovereignties of east and west, A. D. 395. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 95 



SECTION XLV. 

PROGRESS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, FROM ITS INSTI- 
TUTION TO THE EXTINCTION OF PAGANISM IN THE 
REIGN OF THEODOSIUS. 

1. The reign of Theodosius was signalized by the downfal of the 
pagan superstition, and the full estabhshment of the christian religion 
in the Roman empire. This great revolution of opinions is highly 
worthy of attention, and naturally induces a retrospect to the condi- 
tion of the christian church from its institution down to this period. 

It has been frequently remarked (because it is an obvious truth), 
that at the time of our Saviour's birtn a divine revelation seemed to 
be more peculiarly needed ; and ihat, from a concurrence of circum- 
stances, the state of the world was tnen uncommonly favourable for 
the extensive dissemination of the doctrines which it conveyed. The 
union of so many nations under one power, and the extension of civ- 
ilization, were favourable to the progress of a religion which pre- 
scribed universal charity and benevolence. The gross superstitions 
of paganism, and its tendency to corrupt instead of purifying the 
morals, contributed to explode its influence with every tninking mind. 
Even the prevalent philosophy of the times, epicurism, more easily 
understood than the retinements of the Platonists, and more grateful 
than the severities of the Stoics, tended to degrade human nature to 
the level of the brute creation. The christian religion, thus neces- 
sary for the reformation of the world, found its chief partisans in those 
who were the friends of virtue, and its enemies among the votaries 
of vice. 

2. The persecution which the christians suffered from the Romans 
has been deemed an exception to that spirit of toleration which 
they showed to the religions of other nations ; but they were toler- 
ant only to those whose theologies were not hostile to their own. 
The religion of the Romans was interwoven with their poUtical con- 
stitution. The zeal of the christians, aiming at the suppression of all 
idolatry, was naturally regarded as dangerous to the state ; and hence 
they were the object of hatred and persecution^ . In the first century 
the christian church suffered deeply under Nero and Domitian; 
yet those persecutions had no tendency to check the progress of its 
doctrines. 

3. It is matter of question what was the form of the primitive 
church, and the nature of its government ; and on this head much 
difference of opinion obtains, not only between the catholics and prot- 
estants, but between the (HtTerent classes of the latter, as the Luther- 
ans and Calvinists. It is moreover an opinion, that our Saviour and 
his apostles, confining their precepts to the pure doctrines of religion, 
liave left all christian societies to regulate their frame and govern 
ment in the manner best suited to the civil constitutions of the coun- 
tries in which they are established. 

4. In the second century the books oi' the Nevv Testament were 
collected into a volume by the elder fathers of the church, and re- 
ceived as a canon ol' faith. The Old Testament had been translat- 
ed from the Hebrew into Greek, by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 

(284 years before Christ. The early church suffered much from an 
absurd endeavour oi" ilie more learned of its votaries to reconcile its 



94 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

doctrines to the tenets of the pagan philosophers : hence the sects of 
the Gnostics and Ammonians, and the Platonising christians. In the 
second century the Greek churches began to form provincial associ- 
ations, and to establish general rules of government and discipline. 
Assemblies were held, termed s-y)wdoi and concilia, over which a me- 
tropolitan presided. A short time after arose the superior order of 
patriarch, presiding over a large district of the christian world ; and 
a subordination taking place e% en among these, the bishop of Rome 
was acknowledged the chief of the patriarchs. Persecution still at- 
tended the early church, even under those excellent princes, Trajan, 
Adrian, and the Antoiiines ; and, in the reign of Severus, all the prov- 
inces of the empire were stained with the blood of the martyrs. 

5. The third century was more favourable to the progress of Chris- 
tianity and the tranquillity of its disciples. In those times it suffered 
less from the civil arm than trom the pens of the pagan philosopere. 
Porphyry, Philostratus, Lc. ; but these attacks called forth tlie zeal 
and talents of many able defenders, as Origcn, Dionysius, and Cv- 
prian. A part of the Gauls, Germtmy, and Britain, received the light 
of the gospel in this century. , 

6. In the fourth century the christian church w as alternately per- 
secuted and cherished by the Roman emperors. Among its oppres- 
sors we rank Diocletian, Galerius, and JuliiUi; among its favourers, 
Constantine and his sons, Valentinian, Valcns, Gratian, and the excel- 
lent Theodosius, in whose reign the pagan superstition came to its 
final period. 

7. From the age of Numa to the reign of Gratian the Romans 
preserved the regular succession of the several sacerdotal colleges, 
the pontitis, augurs, vestals, Jlamines, salii, i>ic., whose authority, 
though weakened in the latter ages, was still protected by the laws. 
Even the christian emperoi-s held, like their pagan predecessors, the 
office oi' pontifcx tyiuxwius. Gr^.tian was the tirst who refused that 
ancient dignily as a profanation. In tl.c time of Theodosius the 
cause of Christianity ancf of paganism was solemnly debated in the 
Roman senate between Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, the champion 
of the former, and Syinmachus. the defender of the latter. "The 
cause of Christianity w;is triumphant, and the senate issued its de- 
cree for the abolition of paganism, whose downfal in the capital was 
soon followed by its extinction in the provinces. Theodosius, with 
able policy, permitted no persecution of the ancient religion, which 
perished with more rapidity, because its fall was gentle and un- 
resisted. 

8. But the christian church exhibited a superstition in some re- 
spects little less irrational than pulytheism, in the worship of saints 
and relics ; and many novel tenets, uniounded in the precei)ts of 
our Saviour and his apostles, were niiinidstly burrowed from the 
pagan schools. The doctrines of the I'lalonic philosophy seem to 
have led to the notions of an intermediate stale of purification, cg.- 
hbacy of the priests, ascetic mortifications, penances, and monastic 
seclasion. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 9b 



SECTION XLVI. 

EXTINCTION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST, 

1. In the reigns of Arcadius and Honorius, the sons and snccessors 
[^ of Theodosius, the barbarian nations e-tablished themselves in the 
I frontier provinces both of the east and west. Theodosius had com- 
mitted the government to Kufinu? and StiUcho during the nonage of 
his sons ; and their fatal dissensions gave every advantage to the 
enemies of the empire. The Huns, actually invited by Kuhnus, 
overspread Armenia, Cappadocia, and Syria. The Goths, under 
Alaric, ravaged to the borders of Italy, and laid waste Achaia to the 
Peloponnesus. Stilicho, an able general, made a noble stimd against 
these invaders ; but his plans were frustrated by the machinations 

* of his rivals, and the weakness of Arcadius, who purchased an 
ignominious peace, by ceding to Alaric the whole of Greece. 

± Alaric, now styled king of the V isigoths, prepared to add Italy 
to his new dominions. He passed the Alps, and was carrying all 
before him, when, amused by the politic Stilicho with the prospect 
of a new cession of territory, he was attacked unawares, and deteated 
by that general, then commanding the armies of Honorius. The 
emperor triumphantly celel)rated, on that occasion, the eternal defeat 
of the Gothic nation; an eternity bounded by the lapse of a few 
months. In this interval, a torrent of the Goths breaking doAvn upon 
Germany forced the nations whom they dispossessed, the Suevi, 
Aiani, and Vandals, to precipitate themselves upon Italy. They 
joined their arms to those of Alaric, who, thus reinlbrced, determined 

* to overwhelm Rome. The policy of Stilicho made him change his 
purpose, on the promise of 4,000 pounds weight of gold ; a promise 
repeatedly broken by Honorius, and its violation finally revenged by 

V Alaric, by the sack and plunder of the city, A. 1). 410. With gene- 
, rous magnanimity he spared the lives of the vanquished, and, with 

singular liberality of spirit, was anxious to preserve every ancient 

edifice from destruction. 

3. Alaric, preparing now for the conquest of Sicily and Africa, 
died at this ara of hi- highest glory; and Honorius, instead of profit- 
ing by this event to recover his lost provinces, made a treaty with 
his successor Ataulf'us, gave him in marriage his sister Placidia, and 
secured his friendship by ceding to him a portion of Spain, wliile a 
great part of what remained had before been occupied by the \ an- 
dals. He allowed soon after to the Burgundians a just title to their 
conquests in Gaul. Thus the western empire was passing by de- 

/.grees from the dominion of its ancient masters. 

4. The mean and dissolute Arcadius died in the year 408, leaving 
the eastern empire to his infant son Theodosius II. Theodosius was 
a weak prince, and his sister Fulcheria governed the empire, with 
prudence and ability, for the space of forty years. Honorius died in 
the year 42.J. The laws of Arcadius and Honorius are, with a few 
exceptions, remarkable for their wisdom and equity ; which is a 
singular circumstance, considering the personal character of thoce 
princes, and evinces at least that they employed some able ministers. 

5. The X'andals, under Genseric, subdued the Roman province 

I in Africa. The Huns, in the east, extended their conquests from 
the borders of Cliina to the Baltic sea. Under Attila they laid waste 



96 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

Mcesia and Thrace ; and Theodosius, after a mean attempt to mur- 
der the barbarian general, ingloriously submitted to pay him an an- 
nual tribute. It was in this crisis of universal decay that the Britons 
implored the Romans to defend them against the Picts cind Scots, but 
received for answer, that they had nothing to bestow on them but 
compassion. The Britons, in despair, sought aid from the Saxons 
and Angles, who seized, as their property, the country which they 
were invited to protect, and founded, in the fifth and sixth centuries, 
the kingdoms oi the Saxon heptarchy. (See Part 11, Sect. XII, § 5.) 

6. Attila, with an army of 500,000 men, threatened the total de- 
struction of the empire. He was ably opposed by iEtius, general of 
Valentinian 111., now emperor of the west. Valentinian was shut up 
in Rome by the arms ot the barbarian, and at length compelled to 
purchiise a peace. On the death of AtlLla his dominions were dis- 
membered by his sons, whose dissensions gave temporary relief to 
the falling empire of Rome. 

7. After Valentinian III. we have in the west a succession of 

Srinces, or rather names, for the events of their reigns merit no 
etail. In the reign of Romulus, surnamed Augustnlus, the son of 
Orestes, the empire of the west came to a final period. Odoacer, 
prince of the Heruli, subdued Italy, and spared the life of Augustuhis, 
on condition of his resigning the throne, A. D. 476. From the build- 
ing of Rome to the extinction of the western enipire, A. D. 47(3, is 
a period of 1224 years. 

8. We may reduce~lo one ultimate cause the various circum- 
stances that produced the decline and fall of this once magniiicent 
fabric. The ruin of the Roman empire was the inevitable conse- 
quence of its greatness. The extension of its dominion relaxed 
the vigour of its frame ; the vices of the conquered nations infected 
the victorious legions, and foreign luxuries corrupted their command- 
ers ; selfish interest supplanted the patriotic atfection ; the martial 
spirit was purposely debased by the emperors, who dreaded its 
etfects on their own power ; and the whole mass, thus weakened 
and enervated, fell an easy prey to the torrent of barbarians which 
overwhelmed it. 

9. The flerulian dominion in Italy was of short duration. Theo- 
doric, prince of the Ostrogoths (aiterwards deservedly surnamed 
the great), obtained permission of Zeno, emperor of the east, to at- 
tempt the recovery of Italy, and a promise of its sovereignty as the 
reward of his success. The whole nation of the Ostrogoths attend- 
ed the standard of Theodoric, who was victorious in i-ejjeated en- 
gagements, and at length compelled Odoacer to surrender all Italy to 
the conqueror. The Romans had tasted happiness under the govern- 
ment of Odoacer; but their happiness was increased under the do- 
minion of Theodoric, who possessed every talent and virtue of a sov- 
ereign. His equity and clemency rendered him a blessing to his 
subject*. He allied himself with all the surrounding nations, the 
Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and V^mdals. He left a peaceable 
sceptre to his grandson Athalaric, during whose infancy his mother 
Amalasonte governed with such admirable wisdom and moderation, as 
left her subjects no real cause of regret for the loss of her father. 

10. While such %vas the state of Gothic Italy, the empire of the 
east was under the government of Justinian, a prince of mean ability, 
vain, capricious, and tyrannical. Yet the Roman name rose for a 
while from its abasement by the merit of his generals. Belisarius was 
the support of his throne ; yet Justinian treated him with the most 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 97 

shocking ingratitude. Ttie Persians were at this time the most for- 
midable enemies of the empire, under their sovereigns Cabades and 
Cosrhoes; and from the latter, a most able prince, Justinian meanly 
purchased a peace, by a cession of territory, and an enormous trib- 
ute in gold. The civil factions of Constantinople, arising from the 
most contemptible of cause*, the disputes of the performers in the 
circus and amphitheatre, threatened to hurl Justinian from the 

, throne, but were fortunately composed by the arms and the policy of 
Belisarius. This great general overwhelmed the Vandal sovereignty 
of Africa, and recovered that province to the empire. He wrested 
Italy from its Gothic sovereign, and once more restored it for a short 
time to the dominion of its ancient mastoids. 

11. Italy was recovered to the Goths by the heroic Totila, who 
besieged and took the city of Rome, but lorebore to destroy it at 
the request of Belisarius. The fortunes of Bolisarir.s were now in 
the wane. He was compelled to evacuate Italy, and, on his return 

y to Constantinople, his long services were repaid «ith di-^grace. He 
was superseded in the command of the armies by the eunuch Narses, 
who defeated Totila in a decisive engagement, in which the Gothic 
prince was slain. Narsps governed Italy with great ability tor thir- 
teen years, when he was ungratefully recalled by Justin it. the suc- 
cessor of Justinian. He invited the Lombards to avenge his injuries; 
and this nevv tribe of invaders overran and conquered the countiv, 
A. D. 568. 



SECTION XLVII. 

OF THE ORIGIN, MANNERS, AND CHARACTER OF THE 
GOTHIC NATIONS, BEFORE THEIR ESTABLISHMENT IN 
THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 

\. The history and manHers of the Gothic nations are curious 
objects of inquiiy, from their influence on llie constitutions and na- 
tional character of most of the modern kingdoms of Europe. As the 
present inhabitants «Tf these kingdoms are a mixed race, compoundrd 
oi' the Gnths and of the nations whom thev subdued, the laws, man- 
ners, and institutions of the modern kingdoms are the result of this 
conjunction ; and in so fir as these are diilerent tVom the usages prev- 
alent betbre this intermixture, thay are, in all probability, to be 
traced from the ancient mann.rs and institutions of those northern 
tribes. We purpose to consider the original character of the 
Gothic nations, and the change of their manners on their establish- 
ment in the Roman empire. 

2. The Scandinavian chronicles attribute to the ancient inhabitants 
of that country an Asiatic origin, and inform us that the Goths were 
a colony of Scythians, who migrated thitla-r from the banks of the 
Black sea and the Caspian: but these chronicles do not fi.x the perioJ 
of this migration, which some later writei"s suppose to have been 
1,0U0 years, and others only 70, before the christi;m aera. Odin, the 
chief deity of the Scandinavians, was the god of the Scythians. 
Sigga, a Scythian prince, is said to have undertaken a distant expedi- 
tion, and, after he had subdued several of the Sarmatian tribes, to 
have penetrated into the northern parts of Germany, and thence 
into Scandinavia. He assumed the honours of di\inity, and the title 
oi' Odin, his national god. He conquered Deum;^rk, Sweden, and 



98 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

Norway, and gave wise and salutary laws to tlxe natioas which he 
had subdued by his arms. 

3. The agreement in manners between the Scythians and the 
ancient Scandinavian nations, corroborates the accounts given in the 
northern chronicles of the identity of their origin. The description 
of the manners of the Germans by Tacitus (thoiigh this people was 
probably not of Scythian, but of Celiic origin) may, in many partic- 
ulars, be applied to the ancient nations of Scandinavia ; and the 
same description coincides remarkably with the account given by 
Herodotus of the manners of the Scythians. Their life was spent 
in hunting, pasturage, and predatory var. Their dress, their weap- 
ons, their food, their respect for their women, their religious wor- 
ship, were the same. Thev despised learning, and had no other 
records for many ages than the songs of their bards. 

4. The theology of the Scandinavians was most intimately con- 
nected with their manners. They held three great principles or 
fundamental doctriiies of religion : " To serve the Supreme Being 
with prayer and sacrifice ; to do no wrong or unjust action ; and to 
be intrepid in fight.'' Those principles are the k^y to the Edda^ or 
sacred book of the Scandinavians, which, though it contains the sub- 
stance of a very ancient rehgion, is not a \\ ork of high antiquity, 
being compiled in the thirteenth ccntuiy by Snono Sturleson. 
supreme judge of Iceland. Odin, charade lized as the terrible ana 
severe god, the father of carnage, the avenger, is the principal deity 
of the Scandinavi;uis ; from whose union wiih Frea, the heavenly 
mother, sprung various subordinate diviniiies; as Thor, who per- 
petually wars against Loke and his e^il giants, who envy the power 
v'l Odin, and seek to destroy his works. Among the inferior deities 
are the virgins of the N'alhalla, wliose oflice is to minister to the he- 
roes in paradise. The favourites of Odin nre all who die in battle, or, ' 
what is equally meritorious, by their own hand. The timid wretch, 
who allows himself to perish by disease or age, is unworthy of the , 
joys of paradise. These joys are, fighting, ceaseless slaughter, and 
drinking beer out of the skulls of their enemies, with a renovation , 
»)f life, to furnish a perpetuity of the sanr^e pleasures. 

5. As the Scandinavians believed this world to be the work of 
some superior intelligences, so they held all nature to be constantly' 
under the regulation of an almighty wili and power, and subject 
to a fixed and unalterable destiny. These notions had a wonderful ' 
effect on the national manners, and on the conduct of individuals. 
The Scandinavian placed his sole delight in war : he entertained an 
absolute contempt of danger and of death, and his glory was estimat- 
ed by the numl)er which he had slain in battle. The death-song of. 
Regner Lodbrok^ who comforts himself in his last agonies by recount- 
ing all the acts of carnage which he had committed in his life-time,, 
is a faithful picture of the Scandinaviim character. \ 

G. AVe have remarked the great similarity of the manners of the ' 
Scandinavians and the ancient Germans. These nations seem, how- 
ever, to have had a difJ'erent origin. The Germans, as well as the 
Gauls, were branches of that great original nation termed Cehce^ vj'ho 
inhabited most of the countries of Eurupe south of the Bidlic, before 
they were invaded by the northern tribes from Scandinavia. The v 
Celtae were all of the druidical religion, a system different from the 
belief and worship of the Scandinavians, but founded nearly on the : 
same principles ; and the Goths, in their progress, intermixing with 
the Germans, could not fail to adopt, in part, the notions of a kindfed 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 99 

religion. Pruidism acknowledged a god who delighted iu blood- 

f shed, taught the immortality of the soul, and inculcated the contempt 
of danger and of death. Tacitus remarks that the ancient Germans 
had neither temples nor idols. The open air was the temple of the 
divinity, and a consecrated grove the appropriated place for prayer 

J and sacrifice, which none but the priests were allowed to enter. 
The chief sacrifices were human victims, most probably the prison- 

» ers taken in war. The druids heightened the sanctity of their char- 

i acter by concealing the my^fcries of their worship. They had the 
highest inMuence over the ntinds of the people, and thus found it 

' easy to conjoin a civil aulhority with the sacerdotal; a policy which 
in the eiul led to the destruction of the druidical system ; for the 

' Romans found no other way of securing their conquests over any of 
the Celtic nations, but by exterminating the druids. 

|» 7. Whatever ditference of manners there may have been among 
the various nations or tribes of Gothic origin, the great leatures of 

K their character appear to Imve been the san)e. Nature, education, 
and prevailing habits, all concurred to form them for an intrepid 
and conquering people. Their bodily frame was invigorated by 
the climate which they inhabited; they were inured to danger and 
fatigue ; war was their habitual occupation ; they believed in an un- 

f alterable destiny, and were taught by their religion that a heroic 
sacrifice of life gave certain assurance of eternal happiness. How 

p could a race of men so characterized fail to be the conquerors of the 
world? 



•SECTION XLVIII. 

OF THE MANNERS, LAWS, AND GOVERNMENT OF THE 
GOTHIC NATIONS, AFTER THEIR ESTABLISHMENT IN THE 
ROMAN EMPIRE. 

1. It has been erroneously supposed that the same ferocity of 

* maniiei*s, which dislinguisbeJ the Goths in their original seats, at- 
tended their successors iu their new establishments iq the provinces 
o{ the Roman empire. Modern authors have given a currency to 
this false supposition. Voltivire, in describing the middle ages, paints 
\ tlie Goths iu ali the characters of horror; as '"a troop of hungry 
wolves, foxes, and tigers, driving before them the scattered (inud 
herds, and involving all in ruin and desolation.'^ The accounts of 
historians most worthy of credit will dissipate this injurious preju- 
^ dice, and show those nortluM'n nations in a more favourable point of 
' view, as not unworthy to be the successors of the Romans. 
V 2. Before their settU-nient in the southern provinces of Europe, 
'the Goths were no longer idolatei-s, but cliristians; and their mo- 
rality was suiud)le to the religion which iliey professed. Salvianus, 
bishop of jMai'seilles, hi the lifih century, draws a parallel between 
the manners of the Goths and of the Romans, highly to the credit of 
the former. Grotius, in his publication of I'rocopius and Jornaniles, 
remarks, as a strong testimony to their honourable character as a 
nation, that no province once subdued by the Goths ever voluntarily 
withdrew itsell trom their government. 

3. It is not possible to produce a more beautiful picture of an 
excellent administration than that of the Gothic monarchy in Italy 
under Thetidovic the great. Though master of the country by 



100 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

conquest, yet he was regarded by his .subjects with the affection of 
a native sovereign. He retained the Roman laws, and, as nearly 
as possible, the ancient political regulations. In supplying all civil 
offices of state he preferred the native Romans. It was iiis care to 
preserve every monument of the ancient grandeur of the empire, 
and to embellish the cities by new works of beauty and utility. In 
ihe imposition and levying oi taxes he showed the most humane in- 
dulgence on every occasion of scarcity or calamity. His law.s were r 
dictated by the most enhghtened prudence and benevolence, and 
framed on thr.t principle wnich he nobly inculcated in his instructions 
to the Roman senate, '•'• Beni^ni princijm est^non tain delicta reUe mi- 
nire. quoin tollere.'''' It is the duty of a benign prince to he disposea to 
prevent rather than to punish (ffcnces. The historians of the times 
delight in recounting the examples of his niunilicenco and humanity. 
Partial as he was to the Arian heresy, many CAen of the catholic 
fathers have done the most ample justice to his merits, acknowledging 
that, under his reign, the church enjoyed a high measure of pros- • 
perity. Such was Tneodoric the great, who is justly termed by Si- 
doni'is Apollinari*!, Romame decns cohnnenque gentis (^the glory and the 
sajipnrt oj" the Roman nation). 

4. But a single example could not warrant a general inference 
whli regard to the merits of a whole people. The example of 
Theodoric is not single. If it iloes not tmd a complete parallel, it 
is at least nearly approached to in the similar characters of Alaric, 
Amalasonte, and Totila. Alaric, compelled by his enemy's breach 
of faith to revenge himself by the sack of Rome, showed even in ' 
that revenge a noble ex;impie of humanity. No blood was shed 
without necessity ; tlie churrlics were inviolable asylums; the hon- 
our of the women was preserved ; the treasures of the city were 
saved from plunder. Amalasonte, the daughter of Theodoric, t 
repaired to her subjects the loss of her father, by the equity and 
wi>dom of her administration. She tiained her son to the study of 
literature and of every polite accomplishment, as the best means of 
reforming and enlightening his peoj.le. Totila, twice master of 
Rome, which he won by his arms after an obstinate resistance, imi- ' 
lafed tlie example of Alaric in his clemency to the vanquished, and 
in his care to preserve every remnant of ancient magniticence from ', 
destruction. He restored the .«enate to its authority, adorned Rome 
with useful editices, regulated its internal policy, and took a noble 
])ride in reviving the splendour and dignity of the empire. Habitavit 
cum Rontanis^ says a contemporaiy author, tanquum pater cum Jiliis. 
He lived with the Romans as a father nith his children. 

5. The stem of the Gothic nation divided itself into two great 
branches, the Ostrogoths, who remained in Pannonia, and the West- 
rogoths or Visigoths, so termed from their migrating thence to the ., 
west of Europe. Italy was possessed by the latter under Alaric, and \ 
by the former under Theodoric. The Visigoths, after the death of ' 
Alaric, withdrew into Gaul, and obtained from Honorius the province ' 
of Aquitaine, of which Thoulouse was the capital. When expelled 
from that province by the Franks, they crossed the Pyrenees, 
and, settling in Spain, made Toledo the capital of their kingdom. 
The race of the \ isigoth princes was termed the Balti., that of the , 
Ostrogoths the Ainali. The Ostrogoths enforced in their dominions 
the observance of the Roman laws; the V'isigoths adhered to a code ^ 
compiled by their own sovereigns, and founded on the ancient man- 
ners and usages of their nations. From this code, therefore, we may 



ANCIENT HISTORY. lOl 

derive much information relative to the genius and chatticter of this 
ancient people. 

6. It is enacted by the laws of the Fisigoths that no judge shall 
decide in any lawsuit, unless he tind in that book a law applicable to 
the case. All causes that fall not under this description are reservcil 
for the decision of the sovereign. The penal laws are severe, but 
tempered with great equity. No punishment can affect the heirs oi' 
the criminal : Oinnm crimina suos scquantur auctores, — ct ilk sclusjtitli- 
celur culpubilis qui culpcuula coininiserit^ et crimen cum illo qiii/rcrrit. 
moriutur. All crimes slutll attach to their authors^ — and he alone shall he 
judged culpaJble^ zaho hath coiumillcd offence:-, and the crime sltall die icilh 
him ti/iQ hatli committed it. Death was the punishment of the nnn'dor 
of a freeman, and perpetual infamy of the murder of a s!a\ e. I'e- 
cuniary fines were enacted for various subordinate oticnces, accord- 
ing to their measure of criminality. An adulterer was delivered in 
bondage to the injured husband ; and the free wonran who had com- 
mitted adultery with a married man, became the slave of hi-^ w!li>. 
No physician was allowed to visit a female patient, except in the 
presence of her nearest kindred. The for tatioiiis [the Uiiv of retalia- 
tion) vviis in great observance tor such injuries as admitted it. it Avas 
even carried so far, that the incendiary of a house was buint alive. 
The trials by judicial combat, by ordeal, and by the judgment of 
God, which were in frequent use among the Franks and Normans, 
had no place among the Visij;oths. jMontesquieu has erroneously 
asserteil, that in all the Gothic nations it was usual to judge the 
litigants by the law of their own country; the Komau by the Kumau 
law, the Frank by the law of the Franks, the Al(Muan by the laAv 
of the Alemans. On the contrary, the V'i-igoth code prohibits tin; 
laws of all other nations within their territories. J\'olumvs srvc Ro- 
snanis legibus., sive alicnis institutionibiis^ ampliiis convexori. lie will not 
be controlled by t/ie Roman laws., nor by foreign instilinions. Tbe laws 
of the Franks and Lombards are remarkable for their wisdom and 
judicious policy. 

7. The government of the Goths, after their settlement in the 
Roman provinces^ yAUis monarchical. It was at fu'st elective, and 
afterwards becameVhereditar}'.*/ Tbe sovereign on his death-bed 
appointed his successor, with the advice or consent oi' his grandees. 
Illegitimacy did not disqualify iVom succession or nomination to the 
throne. 

C. The dukes and counts were the chief officers under the Gothic 
government. The duke {dux exercitm) was the commander in chief 
of the troo)is of the province ; the count {comes) was tbe highest 
civil riiagistiale. IJut these oihces lVeq< ently inttUMuixed their func- 
tions, the count bi'ing empowered, on sud en emergencies, to assume 
a military command, and the duke, on some occasions, warranted to 
exercise judicial authority. In general, however, tiieir departments 
were distinct. Oi' comitcs there were \arious orders, with distinct ofti- 
cial powers ; as, comes^ cubiculi., chamberlain, comes stabuli^ constable, ^c. 
These various oihcers were the proceres or grandees oithe kingdom, 
by whose advice the sovereign conducted himself in important mat- 
lei's of government, or in the nomination of his successor; but we do 
not lind that they had a voice in the framing uf laws, or in the im- 
position of taxes ; and the prince himself had the sole nomination to 
all othces of government, magistracies, and dignities. 
12 



102 ANCIENT HISTORY. 

SECTION XLIX. 
METHOD OF STUDYING ANCIENT HISTORY. 

1. A GENERAL and concise view of ancient history may be acquired 
by the perusal of a very tew books ; as that part of the CourscP Etude 
of the Abbe Condillac which regards the history of the nations of 
aninjuily ; the Elements of General History by the Abbe Millot, part 
1st; the Epitome of Turseiiine, with the notes of L'Agneau, part 
1st; or tlie excellent Coinpcndium Historicc Univermlis, hy ^roieaaor 
Ofleriiaus of Groningen. The two first of these works have the 
merit of juiiling a spirit of reflection with a judicious selection of 
events. The notes of L'Agneau to the Epitome of Turseiiine con- 
tain a great store of geographical and biogr.iphical information. 
The work of Oflerhaus is peculiarly valuable, as uniting sacred with 
profane history, and containing most ample references to the ancient 
authoi-s. The Diacours stir CHistoire UniverseUc^ by the bishop 
of Meaux, is a work of high merit, but is not adapted to convey in- 
formation to the uninstructed. It is more useful to those who have 
already studied history in detail, for uniting in the mind the great 
current of events, and recalling to the memory their order and con- 
nexion. 

But the student who wishes to derive the most complete advan- 
tage frojn history, must not confine himself to such general or com- 
pendious views; he must resort to the original historians of ancient 
times, and to the modem writers who have treated with amplitude 
el particular periods. It may be useful to such students to point 
out the order in which those historians may be most profitably 
perused. 

2. Next to the historical books of the Old Testament, the ntost 
ancient history worthy of perusal is that of flerodotuSj which com- 
prehends the annals of Lydia, Ionia, Lycia, Egypt, Persia, Greece, 
and Macedonia, during above 230 years preceding 479 A. C. 

Book 1. History of Lydia from Gyges to Cnesus. Ancient Ionia. 
I\Ianners of the Persians, Babylonians, &ic. History of Cyrus the 
Elder. 

B. 2. History of Egypt, and Manners of the Egyptians. 

B. 3. History of Cambyscs. Persian Monarchy under Darius 
Hystaspes. 

"B. 4. History of Scythia. 

B. 5. Persian Embassy to Macedon. Athens, Laceda?mon, Corinth, 
at the same period. 

B. t). Kings of l.accdxmon. War of Persia against Greece, to the 
battle of Marathon. 

B. 7. The same War, to the battle of Thermopylae. 

B. 8. The Naval Battle of Salamis. 

B. 9. The Defeat and Expulsion of the Persians from Greece. 

(The merits of Herodotus are shortly characterized in Sect. 

}vxn,sSi-) 

3. A more particular account of the periods treated by Herodotus 
may be found in Justin, lib. 1, 2, .3, and 7 ; in the Cyropedia of Xeno- 
phon ; in the Lives of Aristides, Themistocles, Cimon, Miltiades, and 
Pausanias, written by Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos ; and in the 
lives of Anaximander, Zeno, Empedocles, Heraclitus, and Democri- 
tuSj by Diogenes Laertius. 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 103 

4. The Grecian history is taken up by Thucydides from the 
period where Herodotus ends, and is continued for seventy years, to 
the twenty-first of the Peloponnosian war. (This work characterized, 
Sect. XXll, 6 2.) Tliis period is more amply illustrated by perusing 
the 11th and 12th books of Diodorus Siculus; the Lives of Alcibia- 
des, Chabrias, Thrasybulus, and Lysi;is, by Plutarch andNepos; the 
2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th books of Justin; and tlie 14th and 15th chapters 
of the 1st book of Orosiiis. 

5. Next to Thucydi(Les the student ought to peruse the 1st and 
2d books of Xenophon's History of Greece, which comprehends the 
narrative of the Peloponnosian war, with the contemporary history of 
the Medes and Persians ; then the expedition of Cyrus [Anabasis)^ and 
the continuation of the history to its conclusion with the battle of 
Mantinea. (Xenophon characterized, Sect. XXII, i^ 3.) For illustrat- 
ing this period we have the Lives of Lysa'.ider, Agesilaus, Artaxerxes, 
Conon, and Datames, by Plutarch and Nepos; the 4th, 5lh, and 6th 
books of Justin ; and the 1 3th and IGth books of Diodorus Siculus. 

6. After Xenophon let the student read the 15th and 16th books 
of Diodorus, which contain the history of Greece and Persia, from 
the battle of Mantinea to the reign of Alexander the great. (Diodorus 
characterized. Sect- XXII, § 5.) To complete this period let him 
read the Lives of Dion, Iphicrates, Timotneus, Phocion, and Timo- 
leon, by Nepos. 

7. For the history df Alexander the great we have the admirable 
works of Arrian and (-^uintus Curtius. (Arrian characterized. Sect. 
XXII, § 8.) Curtius possesses great juilgment in the selection of 
fiicts, with much elegance and perspicuity of diction. He is a good 
moralist and a good patriot; but his pa<sion for embellishment 
derogates from the purity of history, and renders his authority sus- 
picious. 

8. For the continuation of the history of Greece from the death 
of Alexander, we have the 18th, 19lh, and 2Uth books of Diodorus; 
the history of Justin from the 13th book to the end; and the Lives 
of the principal personages written by Plutarch. Tiie history of 
Justin is a judicious abridgment of a much larger work by Trogus 
Pompeius, which is lost. Justin excels in the delineation of charac- 
ters, and in purity of style. 

9. I have mentioned the Lives of Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos 
as the best supplement to the account of particular periods of ancient 
history. It is tiie highest praise of Plutarch that his writings are 
admirable for their morality, and furnish instructive lessons of active 
virtue. He makes us familiarly acquainted with the great men of 
antiquity, and chielly delights in painting their private character and 
manners. The short Lives written by Nepos show great judgment, 
and a happy selection of such facts as display the genius and charac- 
ter of his heroes. They are written with purity and elegance. 

10. For the Roman history in its early periods we have the An- 
tiquities of Dionysi IS of Halicarnassus, which bring down the his- 
tory of Rome to 412 A. U. C. They are chietly valuable, as illus- 
trating the manner's and customs, tlie rites civil and religious, and the 
laws of the Roman state. But the writer is too apt to frame hypoth- 
eses, and to give views insteati of narratives. We expect these in 
tlie modern writei-s who treat of ancient times, but cannot tolerate 
them in the soui'ces of history. 

11. The work of Livy i-< tar more valual)le than that of Dio- 
nysius. it is a perfect model ol" history, both as to matter and comuo- 



104 ANCIENT fflSTORY. 

sition. (Characterized, Sect. XXXVI, § 10.) Of 132 bocks only 35 
remain, and those are interrupted by a considerable chasm. The 
first decade (or ten books) treats of a period of 4G0 years ; the sec- 
ond decade, containing seventy-live years, is lost ; the third contains 
the second Punic war, including eighteen years; the fourth contains 
the war against Philip of Macedon, and the Asiatic war against Anti- 
ochus, a space of twenty-three years. Of the fifth decade there are 
only tive books; and the remainder, which reaches to the death of 
Drusus, 74G, A. V. C. together with the second decade, have been 
supplied by Freinshemius. To supply the chasm of the second de- 
cade the student ought to read, togelher with the epitome of those 
lost books, the first and seconil books of Polyliius ; the 17th, ]8ih, 
?2d. and 23d books of Justin : the lives of Warcellus and Fabius 
Maximus by I'lutarch ; and the Punic and lUyrian wai-s by Appian. 

12. The history of Polybius demands a separate and altcntivc 
perusal, as an admirable compendium of political and military in- 
struction. Of forty books of general history we h^ve only live en- 
lire, and excerpts of the following twelve. Polybius treats of the 
history of the Romans, and of the nations with wliom they were at 
war, from the beginning of the second Punic war to tlie beginning of 
the war with IMacedonia, comprising in all a period of about hlty 
years. Of the high estimation in which Polybius was held by the 
authors of antiquity we have sn(hci<nt proof in the encomiums be- 
stowed on him by Cicero, Strabo, .losephus, and Plutarch ; and in the 
use which Li\y has made of his history, in adopting his narratives 
by a translation nearly literal. 

13. T'he work ol' Api'ian, which originally con'^isted of twenty 
books, trom the earliest period of tlie Roman history down to the 
age of Adrian, i« greatly mutilated; and there remains only his 
account of the Syrian, l*arlhian, Mithridatic, Spanish, Punic, and 
lllyrian wars. His narrative of each of these wars is remarkably 
distinct and judicious; and his composition, on the whole, is chaste 
and persjncnous. Alter tiie history of Appian the student should re- 
sunie Livy, from the beginning of the third decade, or 21st book, to 
the end. Then ho may pemse with advantag?tfTe Lives of ilanni- 
bal, Scipio Africanus, Flaminius, Pauhis /l'>nilius, the elder Cato. the 
Gracchi. Marius. Sylla, the younger Cato. Sertorius, Lucullus, Julius 
Caesar, Cicero, Pc.mpey, and Brutus, by Plutarch. 

14. Salln>l's histories of the Jugurthiue war and of the ronsr-iracy 
of Catihr)c come next in order. (Sall)>t characterized, Sect. XXXVl, 
§ !j.) Then follo\v the Commentaries of Caesar, remaikable for 
perspicuity of na.rration, and a happy union of brevity with elegant 
simplicity of style. (Sect. XXXIV, v)9.) The epitomes of Floras and 
of Veloius Patcrculus may be perused with advantage at thi- ji^riod 
of the course. The latter is a model for abridgment of history, in 
the opinion of the prosid(>nt Henault. 

15. P'or ttie history of Rome under the lirst emperors we have 
Suetonius and Tacitus; and for the subsequent reigns, these;iesof 
the minor iiistorians, termed Historue Augmlce Scriptarcs {inkers of 
angnsl hintory)^ and the Byzantine writers. Suetonius gives i;s a 
series of detached characters, illustrated by an artful selection of (acts 
and anecdotes, rather than a regular history. His work is chiefly 
valuable as descriptive of Roman manners. iJis genius has too much 
of the caustic humour of a satirist. Tacitus, with greater powers 
and deeper penetration, has drawn a picture of the times in stern 
and gloomy colours. (Sect. XXXVI, ^11.) From neither of these his- 



ANCIENT HISTORY. 105 

torians will the ingenuous mind of youth receive moral improvement, 
or pleasing and benevolent impressions ; yet we cannot deny their 
high utility to the student of politics. 

16. If we except Herodian, who wrote with taste and judgment, it 
is doubtful whether any of the subsequent writers of the Roman 
history deserve a minute perusal. It is theretbre advisable for the 
student to derive his knowledge of the history of the decline and 
fall of the Roman empire from modern authoi's, resorting to the 
original writers only for occasional information on detached points of 
importance. For this purpose, the General History by Dr. Howel 
is a work of great utility, being written entirely on the basis of the 
original historians, whose narrative he generally translates, referring 
constantly to his authorities in the margin. In this work the student 
will tind a valuable mass of historical information. 

17. The reader having thus founded his knowledge of general his- 
tory on the original writers, will now peruse with great advantage 
the modern histories of ancient Greece and Home by Mitford, Gillies, 
Gast, Hooke, Gibbon, and Furgusson; and vviil tind himself qualified 
to form a just estimate of their merits, on which it is presumptuous 
to decide without such preparatory knowledge. 

10. The greatest magazine of historical information which hag 
ever been collected into one body, is the English Universal History: 
a most useful work, from the amjitijude of its matter, its ^enei-al 
accuracy, and constant reference to the original authors. W e may 
occjisionally consult it with great advantage on points where deep 
research is necessary ; but we cannot read it with pleasure as a con- 
tinued work, from its tedious details and harshness of style, its abrupt 
tj-ansitions, and the injudicious arrangement of many ot its parts. 

1 9. jGreography and chronology have been justly termed the tights 
of history. VVe cannot peruse'with advantage the historical annals 
of any country without a competent knowledge of its geographical 
situation, and even of its particular topography. In reading the de- 
scription of any event the mind necessarily forms a picture of the 
scene of action ; and it is surely belter to draw the picture with truth 
from nature and reality, than falsely trom imagination. Many actions 
and events are likewise intimately connected with the geography and 
local circumstances of a country, and are unintelligible without a 
knowledge of them. 

20. The use of chronological tables is very great, both for the 
purpose of uniting in one view the contemporary events in different 
nations, which often have an inlluence on one another, and for re- 
calling to the memory the order and series of events, and renewing 
the impressions of the objects ol" former sturly. It is extremely use- 
ful, after perusing the history of a nation in detail or that of a certain 
age or period, to run over briefly the principal occurrences in a table 
01 chronology. The most perfect ^vorks of this kind are the chro- 
nological tables of Dr. Playfair, which unite history and biography ; 
the tables of Dr. Blair; or the okler tables by Tallent.* 

END OF PART FIRST. 

* A list of the best translations of the principal books above mentioned. 

Herodotus, translated by Beloe, 4 vols. 8vo. 

Xenophon's Cycropedia by Cooper, 8vo. , 

Xenophon's Anabasis, by Spelman, 2 vols. Svo. 

Xenophon's History of Greece, by Smith, 4to. 

14 



PART SECOND. 
MODERN HISTORY. 

SECTION I. 

OF ARABIA, AND THE EMPIRE OF THE SARACENS. 

1. Thk lliU of the western empire of the Romans, and the tinal sub- 
jugation of Italy l)y the Lombards, is the aera from which we date the 
coinriM^Hcemcnt of Modern History. 

'i'iie eastern empire of the Romans continued to exj.*t for many 
ages after tiiis period, slill magniticent, though in a state of compar- 
ative weakti'ss and degeneracy. Towards the end of the sixth cen- 
Uirya ntvy doininion arose in llie east, wliich was destined to produce 
a woiidirful change oii a great portion of the globe. 

Tlie Arabians, at this time a rude nation, living chiefly in indopcn- 
<lent trii»es, who traced their descent from the patriarch Al)raham, 
inoft-sst'd a mixed religion, compounded of Judaism and idolatrj. 
Ahicca, their lioly city, ro*e to eminence from the donations of pil- 
grims to Us letnpie, in which vvas deposited a black stone, an object 
of high veneration. Mahomet was born at Mecca, A. D. 57 f.) Of 
ruean descent, ami no education, but of great natural talents, he sought 
to raise himseil to celebrity, by feigning a divinQ. mission to propagate 
y new religion for the salvation of mankind. He retired to the des- 
ert, and pretended to hold conferences with the angel Galmel, who 
deliwied to him, from time to times poitions of a sacred book or Co- 
run, containing revelations of the will ol' the Supreme Being, andbf 
the doctrines which he required his prophet to communicate to the 
world. 

2. Tliis religion, while it adopted in part the morality of Christian- 
ity, retained many of the rites of Judaism, and some of the Arabian 
superstitions, as the pilgrimage to Mecca ; but owed to a certain spirit 

Plutarch, by Langhorne, 6 vols, tivo., or 6 vols. 12ino. Wrangham's 

edition. 
Thucydiiies, by Smith, 2 vols. 8vo. 
Uionysiiis Halitamassus, by Spelman, 4 vols. 4to. 
Polybius, by Hampton, 4 vols. 8vo. 
Livy, by Baker, 6 vols. 8vo. 

Sallust, by Murphy, 8vo. ; by Stuart, 2 vols. 4to. ; by Rose, 8vo. 
Tacitus, by Murphy, 8 vols. 8vo. ; Irish edition, 4 vols. 8vo. 
Suetonius, by Thompson, 8vo. 
Diodorus Sicuhis, by Booth, folio. 
Arrian, by Rook, 2 vols. 8vo. 
Q. Curtius, by Digby, 2 vols. 12mo. 
Justin, by Turabull, 12mo. editor. 



MODERN HISTORY. 107 

of Asiatic voluptuousness its chief recommendation to its votaries. 
The Coran t;iught the belief of one God, whose will and povver were 
constantly exorted towards the happiness of his creatures; that the 
duty of man was to iove his neighbours, assist the poor, protect tlie 
injured, to be humane to inferior animals, and to pray seven times a 
day. The pious mussulman was allowed to have four wives, and as 
many concubines as he chose ; and the pleasures of love were prom- 
ised as the supreme joys of paradise. To revive the impression of 
these laws, \yhich Goil had engraven originally in the hearts of men, 
he had sent from time to time his prophets upon e:irth, Abraham, 
Moses, Jesus Christ, and IMiihomet ; the last the greatest, to whom 
all the world should owe its conversion to the true religion. By 
producing the Conni in detached parcels, Malioraet had it in his pow- 
er to solve all objections by new revelations. 

3. Dissensions and popular tumults between the believers and infi- 
dels caused the bJUiishiTient of lyiahoniot from Mecca, ills (light, 
called tlie hcgyra^.A. D. G22,is the lera of his giory. He re;ireu to 
Medina, and was joined by the brave Otnar. He propagated ids doc- 
trines with great success, and marched with his foiioners in arms, and 
took the city of Mecca. In a few years he subdued all Aral»i.»; and 
then attacking Syria, look several of the Roman cities In the midst 
of his victories he died at tlie age of si*ty-one, A. D. Uo2. He iiad 
nominated Ali, his son-in-hw, his successor; but Abuljeker, his father- 
in-law, secured the succession by gaiiiing ihe army to his interest. 

4. Abubeker united and published the books of tb.e Coran, and 
prosecuted the conquests of Mahomet. He defoatoil the army of He- 
raclius, took .Jerusalem, and subjected all the country between Mount 
fvibanus and the Mediterranean. (On!:is death Omar was elected to 
the caliphate, and in one campaign deprived the Greek empire of 
Syria, i'hoenicia, Mesopotamia, ami Chaldiea. In tlie next camp;aga 
he subdued to tlie mussulman ddiihiion and reUgion, the whole em- 

Eire of Persia. His generals at fhe same time conquered Egypt, 
libya, and Numidia. 

5. Otman, the successor of Omar, added to the dominion of the 
caliphs Bactriana, and part of Tarlary, and ravaged Rhodi'S and tlie 
Greek islands. His successor was Ali, the son-in-law of Mahomet, a 
name to this day revered by the Mahometans. He transferred the 
seat of the caliphalc from Mecca to Couffa, whence it was ailcrwards 
removed to Bagdal. His reig;i was glorious, but only of five years' 
duration. In the space of half a century from the beginning of the 
conquests of Mahomet, the Saracens raised an empire more extensive 
than wiiat remiined of the Uoman. Niniiteen caliphs of the race of 
Omar [(Jinmuidcs) reigned in succession, after which ht-gan the dy- 
nasty of tlie .]6t«5iV/tf, descended by the male line from Mahomet. 
Almanzor, second cidipTiof this lacc, removed the seat of empire to 
Bagdat, and introduced learning and the culture of the sciences, 
which his successors continued io promote with equal zeal and liber- 
ality. Haroun Alrascliid, who flourished in t!ie beginning of the ninth 
century, is celebrated as a second Augustus. The sciences chielly 
cultivated by the Arabians were, medicine, geometry, and astronomy. 
They improved the oriental poetry, by adding regularity to its fancy 
and fuxuriancy of imagery. 



108 MODERN HISTORY. 

SECTION II. 
MONARCHY OF THE FRANKS. 

1. The FranksSvere originally those tribes of Germans who inhab- 
ited the ilistricts lying on the Lower Rhine and Weser, and who, in 
the time ot' Tacitus, passed under the names of Chauci, Cherusci, 
Catti, SicamU-i, i-c. They as-umed or received the appellation of 
Franks^ or freemen, from their temporary union to resist the domin- 
ion of the RomuH. Legendary chronicles record a Pharamond and 
a Meroveus ; the latter theTTead of the first race of the kings of France, 
termed the Mtn-o\ingian ; hut the aniU'-ntic history of the Franks 
commences only witli his grandson Ciovis, who began his reign in 
the year 4ul. In the twentieth year of his age Ciovis achieved (he 
compieist of Gaul, by the defeat of Syagrius the Roman governor; 
and marrying Clotilda, daughter of Ciiilp^-ric king of Burgundy, soon 
added that province to his dominions, by drthroning his father-in-law. 
He was converted by Clotilda ; and the Franks, lill then idolaters, be- 
came ciuistiaiis, after their sovereign's example. ; The Visigoths, 
professing Arianism, were masters at this timeof ATqnitaine, the coun- 
try between tlie lihone and Loire. The intemperate zeal of Ciovis 
prompted the extirpation of those heretics^ who retreated across 
the Pyrenees into Spain ; and the provinces ot Aquitaine became part 
of the kingdom of the Franks. Tliey did not long retain it, for The- 
odoric the great defeated Ciovis in tiie baitie of Aries, and added 
Aquitaine to his dominions. Ciovis died A. D. 51 1. 

2. His tour sons ilivided the monarchy, and were perpetually at 
war with one another. A scries of weak and wicked princes succeed- 
ed, and Gaul for some ages was characterized under its Frank sover- 
eigns by more than ancient barbarism. On the death of Dagobci't II, 
A. D. G.">y, wlio left two infant son?., ihe government, during their mi- 
nority, fell into the hands of their cJiiefo.hcers, termed mayors of the 
palace ; and these ambilious men founded a new power, udiich lor 
some generations held the Frank sovereigns in al)solute subiection, 
and left them little more than the title of king. Austrasia and Neus- 
tria, t!ie two great (Uvisions of the Frank monarchy, were nominally 
governed by Fhierry, but in reality by IVpin Heristel, mayor of the 
palace, who, restricting his sovereign to a small domain, ruled France 
lor tliirty years with great wisdonj and good policy. His son, Charles 
Miu-tel, succeeded to his power, and under a similar title governed for 
twenty-six years with equal ability and success. He was victorious 
over all his domestic foes. His arms kept in awe the surrouruling 
nations, and he delivered France from the ravages of the Saracens, 
whom he entirely defeated between Tours and Foictiei"S, A. D. 732. 

3. Cliarles Martel bequeathed the government of France, as an un- 
disputed inheritance, to his two sons, Pepin le href and Carloman, 
who governed, under the same title of ma)'or, one Austrasia, and the 
other Neustria and Burgundy. On the resignation of Carloman, Pepin 
succeeded to the sole administration. Ambitious of adding the title 
of king to the power which he already enjoyed, he proposed the 
question to pope Zacbary, whether he or his sovereign Childeric 
was most worthy of the throne ? Zachary, wlio had his interest in 
view, decided that Pepin had a right to add the title of king to the 
office ; and Chilleric was confined to a monastery for life. With 



MODERN HISTORY. 1U9 

him ended the first or Merovingian race of the kings of France, 
A. D. 751. 

4. Pepin recompensed the service done him by the pope, by turn- 
ing his arms against the Lombards. He deprived them of the exar- 
cliate of Ravenna, and made a donation of that and other considerable 
territories to the holy see, which were the first, as is alleged, of its 
temporal possessions. Conscious of his defective title, it was the 
principal object of Pepin le bref to conciUate the affections of the 
people whom he governed. The legislative power among the Franks 
was vested in the people assembled in their champs dc Mars. Under 
the MeroA in^ian race the regal authority had sunk to notbing, while 
the power ot the nobles had attained to an inordinate extent. Pepin 
found it his best policy to acknowledge and ratify tbose rights, which 
he could not without danger bave invaded ; and thus, under the char- 
acter of guardian of the powers of all the orders of the state, he exalt- 
ed the regal office to its proper elevation, and founded it on the se- 
curest basis. On his death-bed he called a council of the grandees, 
and obtained their consent to a division of his kingdom between his 
.two sons, Charles and Carloman. He died A. D. 768, at the age of 
fitty-three, after a reign of seventeen years from the death of Chil- 
deric III, and an administration of twenty-seven from the death of 
Charles Martel. 



SECTION III. 

REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE OF FRANXE DURING THE 
MEROVINGIAN RACE OF ITS KINGS. ORIGIN OF THE 
FEUDAL SYSTEM. 

1. The manners of the Franks were similar to those of the other 
Gennanic nations described by Tacitus. Though under the command 
of a chief or king, their government was extremely democraticai, and 
they acknowledged no other than a military subordination. The legis- 
lative authority resided in the general assembly, or chomps dc .VA/rj, 
held annually on the 1st day of March; a council in which the king 
had but a single suffrage, equally with the meanest soldier. But, 
when in arms against the enemy, his power was absolute in enforcing 
military discipline. 

2. After the establishment of the Franks in Gaul some changes took 
place from their new situation. They reduced the Gauls to absolute 
subjection ; yet they letl niany in possession of their lands, because the 
new country was too large Ibr its conquerors. They lelt them like- 
wise the use of their existing laws, which were those of the Roman 
code, while they thoinst^lves were governed by the A«/i(^i<eand ripiui' 
rian laws, ancient institutions in observance among the I ranks before 
they left their original seats in Germany. Hence arose that extraor- 
dinary diversity of local laws and usages in the kingdom of France, 
which continued down to modern times, and gave occasion to number- 
less inconveniences. 

3. The ancient Germans had the highest veneration for the priests 
or tiruids. It was natural that the Frank's, after their conversion to 
Christianity, should have the same reverence for their bishops, to 
whom accordingly tliey allowed the lirst rank in the national as- 
sembly. Tiiese bishops were generally cliosen from among the na- 
tive Gauls; for, having adopted from this nation their new religion, 
it was natural that their priests should be chosen from the same peo- 



no MODERN HISTORY. 

pie. The influence of the clergy contributed much to ameliornte 
the condition of the conquered Gauls, and to humanize their conquer- 
ors; and in a short space of time the two nations were tlioroughly in- 
corporated. 

4. At this period a new system of policy is visible among this unit 
ed people, which by degrees extended itself over most of the nations 
of Europe. This'is the feudal system. By this expression is properly 
meant that tenure or condition on which the proprietors of land held 
their possessions, viz. , an obligation to perform military service, 
whenever required by the chief or overlord to whom they owed al- 
legiance. 

Many modern writers attribute the origin of this institution or poli- 
cy to the kings of the Franks, who, after the conquest of Gaul, are 
supposed to have divided the lands among theif followers, on this 
condition of military service. But this notion is attended with insur- 
mountable difticulties. For, in tiie tii-st place, it proceeds on this false 
supposition, that the conquered lands belonged in property to the king, 
and that he had the right of bestowing them in gills, or dividing them 
among his followers; whereas it is a certain fact, that among the 
Franks the partition of conquered lands was made by lot, as w;is the 
division even of the spoil or booty taken in battle ; and that the king's 
share, though doubtless a larger portion than that of his captains, was 
likewise assigned him by lot. Secondly, if we should suppose the kitig 
to have made those gifts to his captains out of his own domain, the 
creation of a very tew bencjiciit [bcnejices) would have rendered him 
a poorer man than his subjects. We must theretbre have recourse 
to another supposition for the origin of the tiels; and we shall find 
that it is to be traced to a source much more remote than the con- 
quest of Gaul by the Franks. 

5. Among all barbarous nations, with whom war is the chief occu- 
pation, we remark a strict subordination of the members of a tribe to 
their chief or leader. It \vas observed by Cassar as peculiaiily strong 
among the Gaulish nations, and as subsisting not only between the 
soldiers and their commander, but between the inferior towns or vil- 
lages, and the canton or province to wliich they belonged. In peace 
every man cultivated his land, free of all taxation, and subject to no 
other burden but that of military service, when required by hiscliieli 
When the province was at war," each village, though taxed to iurnish 
only a certain number of soldiers, was bound to send, on the day ap- 
pointed for a general muster, all its males capable of bearing arms; 
and from these its rated number was selected by the chief of the prov- 
ince. This dicntela {yassalage) subsisted among the Franks as well 
as among the Gauls. It subsisted among the Romans, who, to check 
the inroads of the barbarian nations, and to secure their distant con- 
quests, were obliged to maintain tixed garrisons on their Irontiers. 




ep. 32. The beiujlcia were at hrst granted only tor life. Alexander 
Severus allowed them to descend to heirs, on the like condition of 
military service. 

6. When Gaul was overrun by the Franks, a great part of the lands 
was possessed on this tenure by the Roman soldiery, as the rest was 
by the native Gauls. The conquerors, accustomed to the same poli- 
cy, would naturally adopt it in the partition of their nevv conquests ; 
each man, on receiving hi^s share, becoming bound to military service, 



MODERN HISTORY. Ill 

as a condition necessarily annexed to territorial property. With 
respect to those Gauls who retained their possessions, no other 
change was necessary but to exact the same obligation ol" military 
vassalage to their new conquerors, which they had rendered to their 
tbrmer masters the emperors, and, before the Roman conquest, to 
their nativ e chiefs. Thus no other change took place but that of 
the overlord. The system was the same which had prevailed for 
ages. 

7. But these heneficia^ or fiefs, were personal grants, revocable by 
the sovereign or overlord, and reverting to him on the death of the 
vassal. The weakness of the Frank kings of the Merovingian race 
emboldened the possessors of tiefs to aspire at independence and 
security of property. In a convention held at Andeli in 587, to treat 
of peace between Gontran and Childebert II., the nobles obliged 
these princes to renounce the right of revoking their benefices, 
which henceforward passed by inheritance to their eldest male issue. 

8. It was a necessary consequence of a tief becoming perpetual and 
hereditary, that it should be capable of subinfeudation; and that the 
vassal liimself, holding his land of the sovereign by the tenure of 
military service, should be enabled to create a train of inferior vas- 
sals, by giving to them portions of his estate to be held on the same 
condition, of following his standard in battle, rendering him homage 
as their lord, and paying, as the symbol of their subjection, a small 
annual present, eitner ot money or the fruits of their lands. Thus, 
in a little time, the whole territory in the feudal kingdoms was either 
held immediately and in capiie of the sovereign himself, or mediately 
by inferior vassals of the tenants in cafriie. 

9. It was natural in those disorderly times, when the authority of 
government and the obligation of general laws were extremely weak, 
that the superior or overlord should acquire a civil and criminal 
jurisdiction over his viissals. The comites^ to whom, as the chief 
magistnites of police, the administration of justice belonged of right, 
paid little attention to the duties of their othce, and shamefully abused 
their powers. The inferior classes naturally chose, instead of seek- 
ing justice throujsjh this corrupted channel, to submit their lawsuits to 
the arbitration of their overlord ; and this jurisdiction, conferred at first 
by the acquiescence of parties, came at length to be regarded as 
founded on strict right. Hence arose a perpetual contest of jurisdic- 
tion between the greater barons in their own territories anci the es- 
tablished judicatories; a natural cause of that extreme anarchy and 
disorder which prevailecj in France during the greater part of the 
Merovingian period, and sunk the regal authority to the lowest pitch 
of abatement. In a gnveniment of wnich evci-y part was at variance 
M ith the rest, it was not surprising that a now power should arise, 
which, in able hands, should be capable of bringing the whole under 
subjection. 

10. The mayor of the palace, or first ofhcer of the household, 
gradually usurped, under a sf^ries of ^ve^.k princes, the whole 
powers of the sovereign. This ofhce, from a personal dignity, be- 
came hereditary in the family of I'epin Heristel. His grandson, 
Pepin Ic bref^ removed liom the throne those )>liantoms of the Me- 
rovingian race, assumful the title of king, by the authority of a pa- 

Eal decree, and reigned for seventeen yeai-s with dignity and success. 
[e was the founder of the second race of the 1- rench monarchs 
known by the name of the Carlovingian. See Ketfs Elements of 
General Knowledge, vol. 1. 



112 MODERN HISTORY. 

SECTION IV^ 
CHARLEMAGNE. THE NEW EMPIRE OF THE WEST. 

1. Pkpin le bref^ with the consent of his nobles, divided, on his 
death-bed, the kingdom of France between his sons, Charles and 
Carloman, A. D. 768. The latter died a few years after his father, 
and Charles succeeded to the undivided sovereignty. In the course 
of a reign of fortv-hve years Charlemagne (for so he was de- 
servedly styled) extended the limits of his empire beyond the Dan- 
ube ; sulxhied Dacia, Dalmatia, and istria ; conquered and subjected 
all the barbarous tribes to the banks of the Vistula ; made himself mas- 
ter of a great portion of Italy ; and successfully encountered the arrre 
of the Saracens, the Huns, the Bulgarians, and the Saxons. His 
war with the Saxons was of thirty years' dur.ition, and their tinal 
conquest was not achieved without an inhuman \viL>»te of blood. At 
the request of the pope, and to discharge the obligation of his father 
Pepin to the holy see, Charlemagne dispossessed l)esiderius king of 
the Lombards ol all his dominions, thougli allied to liim by marriage ; 
and put a final period to the Lombard dominion in Italy. A. D. 774. 

2. He made his entry into Rome at the festival of Easter, was 
there crowned king of France anil of the Lombards, and was, by_ 
pope Adrian 1, invested Avith the right of ratifying the election of 
the popes. Irene, empress of the east, sought to ally hei-self with 
Charlemagne, by the marriage of her sou Coustanliue to his daugh- 
ter; but her subsequent inhuman conduct, in putting Constantine to 
death, gave ground to suspect the sincerity of her desire tor that 
id I ia nee. 

:^. In the last visit of Charlemagne to Italy he was consecrated 
emperor of the west by the hands of pfipe Leo III. It is probable 
that if he had chosen Rome tor his residence and seat of government, 
and at his death had tn\nsniitted to his successor an undivided domin- 
ion, the great but fallen en>pirc of the west might have once more 
been restored to lustre and respect. But Charlemagne had no tixed 
capital, and divided, even in his lifetime, his dominions among his 
children, A. i). 806. 

1. Tiie economy of government and the domestic administration 
of Charlemagi>e merit attention. Pepin le bref had introduc^-d the 
system of annual assemblies or ])ailiaments, held at tirst in March, 
and afterwards in May, ^vbere the chief estates of clergy and nobles 
were called to deliberate on the public aflairs and the wants of the 
people. Cbarlem;igne apointed these assenil)lies to be held twice in 
the year, in spring and in autumn, in the latter assembly all atfairs 
were prepared and digested ; in the forn)er was trans;icted the busi- 
ness of legislation ; and '^f this assembly he made the peojjle a party, 
by admitting from each province or district twelve deputies or rep- 
resentatives. The assembly now consisted of three estates, each of 
which (brmed a separate chamber, and discussed apart the concerns 
of its own order. They afterwards united to communicate their 
resolutions, or to deliberate on their common interests. The sove- 
reign was never present, unless when called to ratify the decrees of 
the assembly. 

5. Charlemagne divided the empire into provinces, and the prov- 
inces into districts, each comprehending a certain number of coun- 



MODERN HISTORY. 113 

ties. The districts were governed by royal envoys, chosen from the 
clergy and nobles, and bound to an exact visitation of their territories 
every three months. These envoys held annual conventions, at 
which were present the liigher clergy and barons, to discuss the 
affairs of the district, examine tlie conduct of its magistrates, and 
redress the grievances of individuals. At the' general assembly, or 
diainp lie Mai, the royal envoys made their report to the sovereign 
and states; and thus the pubhc attention wiis constantly directed to 
all the concerns of the empire. 

6. The private character of Charlemagne was most amiable and 
respectal)le. His secretary, Eginhart, has painted his domesiic life 
in beautiful and simple colours. The economy of his family is char- 
acteri.-tic ol an age of great simplicity ; for his daughtei^ were as- 
siduously employed in spinning and housewifery, and the sons were 
trained by their father in tiie practice of all manly exercises. This 
illustrious man died A. D. 814, in tlie sevent3"-second year of his age. 
Contemporary with him was Haroun Alraschid, caliph of the Sara- 
cens, ecpially celebrated lor his conquests, excellent policy, and the 
wisdom and hmnanily of his government. 

7. Of all the lawful sons of Charlemagne, Lewis the dchmnwire 
was the only one who survived him, and who therefore succeeded 
without dispute to all the imperial dominions, except Italy, which 
the emperor had settled on Bernard, his gnmdsou by Pepin, his 
second son. 



SECTION V. 

MANNERS, GOVERNMENT, AND CUSTOMS OF THE AGE OF 
CHARLEMAGNE. 

1. Ix estal)lishing the provincial conventions under the royal 
envoys, Chariemagne did iwt entirely abolish the authority of the 
ancient chief magistrates, the dukes and counts. They continued 
to comm;ind the troops of the province, and to make the levies in 
stated numbei-s iVom each district. Cavalry were not numerous in 
the imperial armies, twelve farms being taxed to furnish only one 
horseman with his armour and accoutrements. "^I'he province ?u})- 
plied six months" pnn isions to its complement of men, and tlie king 
maintained them duiing the rest nl the campaign. 

y. The engines for the atlack and del'ence of towns were, as in 
former times, the jam, the balista. cat;ij)u!ta, testudo, kc. Charle- 
magne had his ships of war stationed in the mouths of all the larger 
rivers. He bestowed great attention on commerce. The merchants 
of Italy and the south of France traded to the Levant, and exchanged 
the commodities of Europe and Asia. Venire and Genoa were 
rising into commercial opulence; and the manulacturesof wool, glass, 
and iron, were succt'ssfully cultivated in many of the principal towns 
in the south of Euroj)e. 

3. The value of money was nearly the same as in the Roman 
empire in the age of Constantine the great. The numerary livre^^ 
in the age of Charlemagne, was supposed to be a pound of silver, in 
value about 31. sterliiig of English money. At present the livre is 
worth 10 l-2d. English. Hence we ought to be cautious in forming 
our estimate of ancient monev from its name. From the want of 

1 :; 



114 MODERN HISTORY- 

this caution have arisen the most erroneous ideas of the cortittiercdj 

ricUes, and stivnglii of the ancient kingdoms. 

4. rhe cajntuhria [statute-booh) of Charlemagne, compiled into a 
body A. D. i!27, were recovered from oblivion in 1531 and 1545. 
Tiiey present many circumstances illustrative of the manners of the 
times. Unless in great cities there were no iiuis : the laws obliged 
every man to give accommodation to travellers. The chief towns 
were built ol' wood. The state of the mechanic arts was very low 
in Europe. Tiie .Saracens had made morp })rogress in them. Faint 
ing and sculpture were only preserved from absolute extinction by 
the existing remains of ancient art. Charlemagne appears to have 
been anxious for the improvement of musir ; and the Italians are said 
to have instructed his French performers in the art of playing on the 
organ. ,.\rchitectuK was studied and successfully cultivated in that 
style termed the Gothic, which admits of great' l>eauty, elegance, 
and magailicence. The composition of Mosaic appears to have been 
an invention of those a^es. 

5. Tiie knowledge ot letters was extremely low, and confined to a 
few of the ecclesictslics. Charlemagne gave the utmost encourage- 
ment to literature and the sciences, inviting into his dominions of 
France, men eminent in those departments from Italy, and tVom the 
Britauiiic isles, which, in those dark ages, preserved more of the, 
light of learning than any of the western kingdoms, '• .Veqne enim 
siteada Uuis Britannia; Sciiiu:, et Hihernia\ qvxv stmUo liberaliuin artiurn 
eo tempore anieccllebaat rcliqias occvkntalibiis regnis ; t:t cura pnnsertiin 
moimdinrum. qui lilevarutn gloruviu uiibi aid languentcni aiit aeprcssamj 
in iis rrgionibits iinpigre su.iciuioant utquc luclionlury Murat. Antiq. 
Ital. Diss. 1 J. " / must not mail the praise due to England, ^cotland^ 
and Ireland, which at that lime excelled the other weMern kinarchms in the 
study of the liberal arts ; and especially to the wio/ifcv, Iry whose care and 
diligence^ the honour of literature^ xvhich in other countries was either 
languishing or depressed, was revived and protected in these.'''' 'J "he 
scarcity of books in those times, and the nature of their subjects, 
as legends, lives of the saints, ice, evince the narrow dillusiun of 
literature. 

^ ij. Tne pecuniary fiiies for homicide, the ordeal or judgment of 
God, and jiidici.d com!)al, were striking peculiarities in the laws and 
miuuers of the northern nations, and panicularly of the Franks. By 
this w.iriike, barbarous people, revenge was esteemed honourable and 
nijriforious. The high-spirited warrior chastised or vindicated with 
his own hand the iijiiries which be had received or indicted. The 
magistrate interfered, not to punisii, but to reconcile, and was sal istied 
if 113 could pei-suade the aggressor to pay, and the injured party to 
accept, the moderate tine which was imposed as the price of bloody 
and of which the measure was estimated according to the rank, the 
sex, and the country of the person slain. But increasing civilization 
abolished those b.ubarous distinctions. We have remarked the equal 
severity ot' the laws of the Vi^^ieoths, in the crimes of murder and 
robbery; and e\on among the Franks, in the age of Charlemagne, 
deliberate murder was punished %vith death. 

7. By their ancient laws, a party accused of any crime was al- 
lowed to proihice compurgators, or a certain numher of witnesses, 
according to the measure of the offence ; and ii these declared 
upon oath their belief of his innocence, it was held a suthcient excul- 
pation. Seventy-two compurgators were required to acquit a mur- 
derer or an incomliary. The flagrant perjuries occasioned by this 



MODERN HISTORY. 115 

absurd practice probably gave rise to the trial by ordeal, which was 
termed, as it was believed to be, the judgment of God. The crimi- 
nal wa-s ordered, at the option of the judge, to prove his innocence 
or guilt, by the ot^leal of cold water, ot boiling water, or red hot 
iron, lie was tied hand luul foot, and thrown into a pool, to sink or 
»wim ; he was made to letch a ring from the bottom of a vessel of 
boiling water, or to w;dk barefooted over burning ploughshares. His- 
tory records ox;imples of those wonderful experiments ha\ing been 
made without itijurv or pain. 

8. Another pcculiwrily of the laws and manners of the northern 
natioas «;is judicial ronihat. Both in civil suits and in the trial of 
crimes, the p^rTy destitute of legal proofs might challenge his antag- 
onist to mortal combat, and rest the cause upon its issue. This san- 
guinary and most iniquitous cu>tom, nliich may be traced to this day 
ill the pniclice of duelling, had the authority of law in the court of 
the con>fable and mai-slial, even in the last century, in France and 
England. 



SECTION VI. 

RETROSPKCTIVi: VIEW OF THE AFFAIRS OF THE CHURCH 
BEFOIIE THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE. 

1. The Arian and Pelagian; heresies divided the christian church 
for many ages. In the fourth century, Arius, a preshyter of Alexan- 
dria, maiut.iinod the sep;.i-ate and interior nature ot' the socdtid per- 
son of the trinity, regarding Christ as the noblest of created btings, 
through whose agency llie Creator had formed tho universe. His 
doctrine was condi-mned in tlie council of Mice, held b^' Conslantine 
A. I). .'VJ5, who allcrwards became a convert to it. I'or many cen- 
turies it Ir.id an extensive inlluiMicc, and produced the sects of the 
Eunomians, Semi-Arians. Eusel>i;u»s, &c. 

2. In the beginning of the fifth century Pelagius and Cjele.stius, 
the former a naiive of Uritj-in, the latter of Ireland, denied the doc- 
trine of original sin, and the neces'^ily of divine grace to enlighten 
the understanding, and purify the heart ; and maintained the sutli- 
ciency of m,in">^ natural powers for the attainment of the higlu'st 
degrees of piety and virtue. These tenets were ably combated l»y 
St. Augustine, and condemned by an ecclesiastical council, but have 
ever continued to liiid many supportei-s. 

:i. The most obstinate source ot" controversy in those ages was (he 
worship of images ; a practice which was at tirst opposeil by the 
clergy, but was afierwards, from interested motives, countenanced 
and vindicated by them. It was, however, long asui>ject of division in 
the church. The emperor Leo the Isaurian, A. 1). 727, attempted 
to suppress this idolatry, by the destruction of every statute and pic- 
ture found in the churches, and by punishniv^nt of their worshippers; 
but this intemperate zeal rather increased than repressed the super- 
stition. His son Gonstantine Copronymus, with wiser policy, pro- 
cured its condemnation bv the church. 

4. From the doctrines of the Platonic and Stoic philosojjhv, 
which recommended the puritication of the soul, by redeeming it 
from its subjection to the senses, arose the system of penances, mor- 
titication, religious sequestration, imd mouacliism. After Constantine 
had put an end to the persecution of the christians, many conceived 



116 MODERN HISTORY. 

it a duty to procure lor themselves voluntary grievances and suffer- 
ings. Tliey retired into caves and hermitages, and there practised 
the most rigorous mortifications of the Hesh, by fasting, scourging, 
vigils, &c. This phrensy first showed itself in Egypt in the fourth 
century, whence it spread over all tlie east, a great part of Africa, 
and within the limits of the bishopric of Rome, hi the time of The- 
odosius these devotees began to form communities or coenobia^ each 
associate binding himself by oath to observe the rules of his order. 
St. Benedict introduced monachism into Italy, under the reign of 
Totila ; and his order, the Benedictine, soon became extremely nu- 
merous and opulent. Many rich donations were made by the devout 
and charitable, who believed that they profited by the prayers of the 
monks. Benedict sent colonies into Sicily and France, whence they 
soon spread over all Europe. 

5. hi the east, the monac/a soKtam (solitary monks) were first incor- 
porated into coenobia by St. Basil, bishop of Caesarea, in the middle of 
the fourth century ; and some time before that period the first monas- 
teries for women were founded in Egypt by the sister of St. Pacorao. 
From these, in the following age, sprung a variety of orders, under 
ditlerent rules. The rule of the canons regular was framed at"ter the 
model of the apostolic life. To chastity, obedience, and poverty, the 
mendicants added the obligation of begging alms. The military reli- 
gious orders were unknown till the age of the holy wars. (Sect. XVII, 
§ 3.) The monastic fraternities owed their reputation chiefly to the 
little literary knowledge which, in those ages of ignorance, they ex- 
clusively possessed. (For the origin of monachism, see Varieties of 
Literature.) 

G. In the fifth century arose a set of fanatics termed sfylites, or pil- 
lar-saints, who passed their lives on the tops of pillars of various height, 
Simeon of Syria hved thirty-seven years, and died on a pillar sixly 
feet high. This phrensy prevailed in the east for many centuries. 
(For a curious account oi"tiie fanaticism of the Hindoos, see Tennanrs 
Indim Recreations.) 

7. Auricular confession, which had been abolished in the east in 
the fourth century, began to be in use in the west in the age of Char- 
lemagne, and has ever since prevailed in the Romish church. The 
canonization of saints was, for near twelve centuries, practised by ev- 
ery bishop. Pope Alexander III, one of the most vicious of men, 
first claimed and assumed this right, as the exclusive privilege of the 
successor of St. Peter. 

8. The conquests of Charlemagne spread Christianity in the north 
of Europe; but all beyond the limits of his conquests was idolatrous. 
Britain and Ireland had received the light of Christianity at aneariier 
period ; but it was afterwards extinguished, and again revived under 
the Saxon heptarchy. 



SECTION VII. 

EMPIRE OF THE WEST UNDER THE SUCCESSORS OF CHAR- 
LEMAGNE. 

1. The empire of Charlemagne, raised and supported solely by his 
abilities, tell to pieces under his weak posterity. Lewis (/e debonnaire). 
the only survivor of his lawful sons, was consecrated emperor and 
king of the Franks at Aix la Chapelle, A. D. 816. Among the first 



MODERN HISTORY. 117 

acts of his reign was the partition of his dominions among his children. 
To Pepin, his second son, he gave Aqnitaine,a third part of the south 
of France ; to Lewis, the youngest, Bavaria ; and he associated his 
eldest son Lotharius vvithhimselt'in the government of the rest. The 
three princes quarrelled among themselves, agreeing in nothing but 
in hostility against their father. They made open war against him, 
supported by pope Gregory IV. The pretence was, that the emper- 
or having a younger son, Charles, born after this partition of his 
states, wanted to give him likewise a share, which could not be done 
but at the expense of his elder brothers. Lewis was compelled to 
surrender himself a prisoner to his rebellious sons. They confined 
him lor a year to a monastery, till, on a new quarrel between Lewis 
the younger and Pepin, Lotharius once more restored his father to 
the throne : but his spirits were broken, his health decayed, and he 
finished, soon after, an inglorious and turbulent reign, A. D. 840. 

2. The dissensions of the brothers still continued. Lotharius, now 
emperor, and Pepin his brother's son, having taken up arms against 
the two other sons of Lewis le debannaire^ Lewis of Bavaria and 
Charles the bald, were defeated by them in the battle of Fontenai, 
where 100,000 are said to have fallen in the held. The church in 
those times was a prime organ of the civil policy. A council of bish- 
ops immediately assembled, and solemnly deposed Lotharius. At the 
same time they assumed an equal authority over his conquerors, 
whom they permitted to reign, on the express condition of submissive 
obedience to the supreme spiritual authority. Yet Lotharius, though 
excommunicated and deposed, found means to accommodate matters 
with IjKfbrothers, who agreed to a new partition of the empire. By 
the treaty of Verdun, A. D. 843, the western part of France, termed 
Neustria and Aquitaine, was assigned to Charles the bald ; Lotharins, 
with the title of^emperoi-, had the nominal sovereignty of Italy, and 
the real territory oi Lorraine, Tranche Compte, Provence, and the 
Lyonnois; the share of Lewis was the kingdom of Germany. 

3. Thus was Germany finally separated from the empire of the 
Franks. On the death of Lotharius, Charles the bald assumed the 
empire, or, as is said, purchased it from pope John VIII, on the con- 
dition of holding it as a vassal to the holy see. This prince, af\er a 
weak and inglorious reign, died by poison, A. D. 877. Pie was the 
first of the French monarchs who made dignities and titles hereditary. 
Under the distracted reigns of the Carlovingian kings, the nobles at- 
tained great power, and commanded a formidable vassalage. They 
strengthened themselves in their castles and fortresses, and bid defa- 
ance to the arm of government, while the country was ravaged and 
desolated by their f^^s. 

4. In the reign of uharles the bald, France was plundered by the 
Normans, a new race of Goths from Scandinaviii, who had begun 
their depredations even in the time of Charlemagne, and were only 
checked in their progress by the terror of his aims. A. D. 843 they 
sailed up the iSeine, and plundered Rouen ; while another fleet enter- 
ed the Loire, and laid waste the country and its vicinity, carrying, 
together with its spoils, men, women, and children, into captivity. 
In the following year they attacked the coasts of England, h ranee, 
and Spain, but wei-e repelled from the last by the good conduct and 
coui'age of its Mahometan rulers. In 845 they entered the Elbe, 
plundered Plamburgh, and penetrated far into Germany. Eric, king 
of -Denmark, who commanded these Normans, sent once more a fleet 
into the Seine, which advanced to Paris. Its inhabitants fled, and the 



118 _ MODERN HISTORY. 

tity was burnt. Another fleet, with little resistance, pillaged Bour- 
deaux. To avert the arms of these ravagers, Charles the bald bribed 
them with money, and his successor, Charles the gross, yielded them 
a part of his Flemish dominions. These were only incentives to 
fresh depredation. Paris was attacked a second time, but gallantly 
defended by count Odo or Eudes, and the venerable bishop Goslin. 
A truce was a second time concluded ; but the barbarians only chang- 
ed the scene of their attack : they besieged Sens, and plundered 
Burgundy. An assembly of the states held at Mentz deposed the 
unworthy Charles, and conferred the crown on the more deserving 
Eudes : who, during a reign often years, bravely withstood the Nor- 
mans. A great part of the states of France, however, refused his 
title to the crown, and gave their allegiance to Charles surnamed the 
simple. 

5. Rollo, the Norman, in 9 1 2, compelled the king of France to 
yield him a large portion of the territory of Neustria, and to give 
him his daughter in marriage. The new kingdom was now called 
Normandy, of which Rouen was the capital. 



SECTION VIII. 

EMPIRE OF THE EAST DURING THE EIGHTH AND NINTH 

CENTURIES. 

1 . While the new empire of the west was thus rapidly tending 
to dissolution, the empire of Constantinople still retained a vestige of 
its ancient grandeur. It had lost its African and Syrian dependencies, 
and was plundered by the Saracens on the eastern frontier, and rav- 
aged on the north and west by the Abari and Bulgarians. The capi- 
tal, though splendid and refined, was a constant scene of rebellions 
and conspiracies ; and the impeiial family itself exhibited a series of 
the most horrid crimes and atrcciJies. One emperor was put to 
death in revenge of murder and incest ; another was poisoned by his 
queen ; a third was assassinated in the bath by his own domestics ; a 
fourth tore out the eyes of his brother j the empress Irene, respecta- 
ble for her talents, was infamous for the murder of her only son. 
Of such con)ploxion was that series of princes who swayed the scep- 
tre of the east nearly 200 years. 

2. In the latter pai't of this period a most violent controversy was 
maintained respecting the worship of images, which were alternately 
destroyed and replaced according to the humour of the sovereign. 
The iemaie sex was their most zealous supporter. This was not tlie 
only subject of division in the christian church ; the doctrines of Man- 
icbes were then extremely prevalent, and the sword was frequent- 
ly employed to support and proj)ngate their tenets. 

3. The misfortunes of the empire were increased by an invasion 
of the Russians from the Pains Mceotis and Euxine. In the reign of 
Leo, named the philosopher, the Turks, a new race of barbarians, of 
Scythian or Tartarian breed, began to make effectual inroads on its 
territories. About the same time its domestic calamities were aggra- 
vated by the separation of the Greek from the Latin church, of 
which we shall treat under the following section. 



MODERN HISTORY. 119 

SECTION IX. 

STATE OF THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTH AND NINTH 
CENTURIES. 

.' 1. The po;^es had begun to acquire a temporal authority under 
' Pepin h brej and Charlemagne, from the donations of territory 
made by those princes, and they were now gradually extending a 
spriritual jurisdiction over all the christian kingdoms. Nicholas I. 
proclaimed to the whole world his paramount judgment in appeal 
Irom the sentences of all spiritual judicafories ; his poAver of as- 
sembling councils of the church, and of regulating it by the canons 
of those councils ; the right of exercising his authority by legates in 
all the kingdoms of Europe, and the control of the pope over all 
princes and governors. Literary imposture gave its support to these 
pretences. Certain spurious epistles were written in the name of 
Isidorus, with the design of proving the justice of the claims of the 
pope ; and the forgery of those epistles was not completely exposed 
till the sixteenth century. Among the prerogatives of the popes was 
the regulation of the marriages of all the crowned heads, by the 
extreme extension of the prohibitions of the canon law, with which 
they alone had the power of dispensing. 

2. One extraordinary event (i{ true) afforded, in the ninth cen- 
tury, a ludicrous interruption to the boasted succession of regular 
bishops from the days of St. Peter, the election of a female pope, 
who is said to have ably governed the church for three years, till 
detected by the birth of a child. Till the reformation by Luther 
this event was not regarded by the catholics as incredible, nor dis- 
graceful to the church : since that time its truth or falsehood has 
been the subject of keen controverey between the protestants and 

I catholics ; and the evidence for its falsehood seems to preponderate. 

3. The church was thus gradually extending its influence, and 
its head arrogating the control over sovereign princes, who, by a 
singular interchange of character, seem, in those ages, to have 

, fixed their chief attention on spiritual concerns. Kings, dukes, and 
counts, neglecting their temporal duties, shut themselves up in clois- 
ters, and spent their lives in prayers and penances. Ecclesiastics 
were employed in all the departments of secular government ; and 
they alone conducted all public measures and state negotiations, 

"which of course they directed to the great objects of advancing the 
interests of the church, and establishing the paramount authority of 
the holy see. 

4. At this period, however, when the popedom seemed to have 
^ attained its highest ascendancj^, it suffered a severe wound in that 

remarkable schism which separated the patriarchates of Rome and 
Constantinople, or the Greek and Latin churches. The Roman pon- 
tiff' had hitherto claimed the right of nominating the patriarch of 
.Constantinople. The emperor Michael 111. denied this right, and de- 
, posing the pope's patriarcli, Ignatius, appointed the celebrated Pholius 
in his stead. Pope Nicholas 1. resented this aflVont with a high spirit, 
and deposed and excommunicated Pholius, A. D. 863, who, in his 
turn, pronounced a similar sentence agaiast the pope. The church 
''was divided, each patriarch being supported by many bishops and 
their dependent clergy. The Greek and Latin bishops had long 



120 MODERN HISTORY. 

differed in many points of practice and discipline, as the celibacy of 
the clergy, the shaving of their beards, &,c. ; but in reality the prime 
source of division was the ambition of the rival pontiffs, and the jeal- 
ousy of the Greek emperors, unwilling to admit the control of 
Rome, and obstinately asserting every prerogative which they con- 
ceived to be annexed to the capital of the Roman empire. As nei- 
ther party would yield in its pretensions, the division of the Greek 
and Latin churches became from tliis time pemianent. 

5. Amid those ambitious contests for ecclesiastical power and pre- 
eminence, the christian religion itself was disgraced, both by the 
practice and by the principles of its teachers. Worldly antbition, 
gross voluptuousness, and grosser ignorance, characterized all ranks 
of the clergy, and the open sale of benefices placed them often in 
the hands ot the basest and most protligate of men. Yet the charac- 
ter of Fhotius forms an illustrious exception. Though bred a states- 
man and a soldier, and in both these respects of great reputation, he 
attained, by his singular abilities, learning, and worth, the highest 
dignity of the church. His Bibliotheca is a monument of the most 
various knowledge, erudition, and critical judgment. 



SECTION X. 

OF THK SARACENS IN THE EIGHTH AND NINTH CENTURIES. ' 

1. In the beginning of the eighth centurv the Saracens subverted 
the monarchy of the Visigoths in .Spjiin, and easily overran the coun- 
try. They had lately lounded in Africa the empire of Morocco, 
which was governed by Muza, viceroy of the caliph Valid Alman/.or. 
Muza sent his general Tariph into Spain, who, in one memoi'ahle 
battle, Ibught A. 1). 713, stripped the Gothic king Rodrigo of his 
crown and life. The conqueroi-s, satistied with the sovereignty of 
tiie country, left the vanquished Goths in possession of their proper- 
ty, laws, and religion. Abdallah the JNIoor married the widow of 
Rodrigo, and the two nations formed a perfect union. One small 
part of the rocky country ol Astoria alone adhered to its christian 
prince, Helagius, who maintained his little sovereignty, and transmit- 
ted it inviolate to his successors. 

2. The Moot's pushed their conquests beyond the Pyrenees ; but 
division arising among their enurs, and civil wars ensuhig, Lewis 
le dfhoumdre took advantage of the turbulent state of the country, ' 
and invaded and seized Barcelona. The Moorish sovereignty in the 
north of Spain was vveakeneil by throwing off its dependence on 
the caliphs; and in this juncture the christian sovereignty of the 
Asturias, under Alphonso the chaste, began to make vigorous en- 
croaclinicnls on the territory of the IMooi-s. Navarre and Arragon, 
roused by this example, chose each a christian king, and boldly as- 
sei'ted their liberty and independence. 

3. While the Mooi-s of Spain \vere thus losing ground in the north, 
they were highly flourishing in the southern parts of the kingdom. 
Abdalrahman, the last heir of the family of the Ommiades (the 
Abassidae now enjoying the caliphate), was recognized as the true 
representative of the ancient line by the southern Moors. He fixed 
the seat of his government at Cordova, which, for two centuries fiom 
that time, was the capital of a splendid monarchy. This period, 
from tile middle of the eighth to the middle of the tenth century, 



MODERN HISTORY. 121 

is the most brilliant aera of Arabian magniiicence. Whilst Haroun 
Alraschid nr,ade Bagdat illustrious by the splendour of the arts and 
sciences, the Moors of Cordova vied with their brethern of Asia 
in the same honourable jiursuits, and were undoubtedly at this period 
tlie most enhghtened of the states of Europe. Under a series of 
able princes they gained the highest reputation, both in arts and 
arms, of all the nations of ihe west. 

4. The Saracens w ere at this time extending their conquests in 
almost every quarter of the world. The MahomeUin religion was 
professed over a great part of India, and all along the eastern and 
Alediterranean coast of Africa. The African Saracens invaded 
Sicily, and projected the conquest of Italy. They actually laid 
siege to Rome, which was nobly defended by pope Leo I\'. They 
were repulsed, their ships were dispelled by a storm, ami theii- array 
was cut to pieces, A. D. 848. 

5. The Saracens might have raised an immense empiie, if they 
had acknowledged only one head ; but their slates were always dis- 
united. Egypt, Morocco, Spain, and India, had all tlieir sopar.ite 
sovereigns, who continued to respect the caliph of Dagdat as the 
successor of the prophet, but acknowledged no temporal subjection 
lo his government 



SECTION XI. 

EMPIRE OF THE WEST AND ITALY LN THE TENTH A!^ 
ELEVENTH CENTURIES. 

1. The empire founded by Charlemagne now subsisted only in 
name"J Arnold, a bastard son of Carioman, possessed Gennany. 
Italy was divided between Guy duke of Spfiletto and Berengarius 
duke of Priuli, who had received (hoHO duchies from Cbarles the 
bald. France, though claimed by Arnold, was governed by Endes. 
Thus the empire in reality rotisisted only of a part of Germany, 
w bile France, Spain, Italy, Burgundy, an<l the countries between the 
Macs and Rhine, were all subject to ilifierent powers. The emper- 
ors were at this time elected by the bishops and gnmdees, all of 
whom claimed a voice. In this manner Lewis the son of Arnold, 
the last of the blood of Charlemagne, was chosen emjieror after the 
death of his fither. On his demise Otho <luke of Sixony, by his 
credit with his brother grandees, conlerred liie empire on Conrad 
duke of Franconia, at whose death Henry surnamed the fowler, son 
of the same duke ()th(^, was elected emperor, A. I). 918. 

2. Henry 1. (the fowler), a prince oi' great alililies, introduced 
order and good government into ihe empiie. He united the gran- 
dees, and curbed their usurpations; built, embellished, and forlitied 
the cities; and enforced with great rigour the execution of the lavv.s 
in the repression of all enormities. He had been consecnited by 
his own bishops, and maintained no correspondence with the see of 
Home. 

3. His son Otho (the great), A. D. 938, again united Italy to the 
empire, and kept the popedom in complete subjection. He made 
Denmark tributary to the imperial crown, annexed the crown of Bo- 
hemia to his own dominions, and seemed to aim at a paramount 
authority over all the sovereigns of Europe. 

L 16 



122 MODERN HISTORY. 

4. Otho owed his ascendancy in Italy to the disorders of the pa- 
pacy. Formosus, twice excommunicated by pope John VIII., had 
arrived at the triple crown. On his death his rival, pope Stephen 
VII., caused his body to be dug out of the grave, and, after trial lor 
his crimes, condemned it to be tlung into the Tiber. The friends ol 
Formosus had interest to procure the deposition of Stephen, who 
was strangled in prison. They sought and found his body, and 
buried it. A succeeding pope, Sergius HI., again dug up this ill-iatcd 
carcase, and threw it into the Tiber. Two infamous women, Marozia 
and Theodora, managed for many years the popedom, and tilled the 
chair of St. Peter with their own gallants, or their adulterous ofl- 
spriug. Such was the state of the holy see, when Berengarius duke 
of Priuli disputed the sovereignty of Italy with Hugh of Aries. 
The Italian states and pope John XIl., who took part against Beren- 
garius, invited Olho to compose the disorders ol the country. He 
entered Italy, defeated Berengarius, and was consecrated emperor 
by the pope, with the titles of Cajsar and Augustus ; in return for 
which honours he confirmed the donations made to the holy see by 
his predecessors, Pepin, Charlemagne, and Lewis the debonnaire, 
A. l5. 962. 

5. But John XII. was false to his new ally. He made his peace 
with Berengarius, and both turned their arms against the emperor. 
Otho flew back to Rome, and revenged himself by the trial and 
deposition of the pope ; but he had scarcely left the city, when j 
John, by the aid of his party, displaced his rival Leo VIII. Otho I 
once more returned, and took exemplary vengeance on his enemies, 
by hanging one half of the senate. Calling together the lateran , 
council, he created a now pope, and obtained from the assembled 
bishops a solemn acknowledgment of the absolute right of the em- 

fieror to elect to the papacy, to give the investiture of the crown of 
taly, and to nominate to all vacant bishoprics ; concessions observed 
RO longer than while the emperor ^vas present to enforce them. 

6. Such was the state of Rome and Italy under Otho the great ; ' 
and it continued to be much the same under his successors for a cen- 
tury. The emperors asserted their sovereignty over Italy and the 
popedom, though with a constant resistance on the part of the 
Romans, and a general repugnance of the pope, when once establish- " 
ed. In those ages of ecclesiastical profligacy it was not unusual to 
put up the popedom to sale. Bene(lict VIII. and John XIX., two 
brothers, publicly bought the chair of St. Peter, one after the other ; 
and, to keep it in their family, it was purchased afterwards by their ,) 
friends for Benedict IX., a child of twelve years of age. Three 
popes, each pretending regular election and equal right, agreed first 
to divide the revenues between them, and afterwards sold all their 
shares to a fourth. 

7. The emperor Henry III., a prince of great ability, strenuously 
vindicated his right to supply the pontifical chair, and created three 
successive popes without opposition. 



MODERN HISTORY^. 123 



SECTION XII. 

HISTORY OF BRITAIN FROM ITS EARLIEST PERIOD DOWN 
TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 

1 . The history of Britain has been postponed to this time, that it 
may be coifsidered in one connected view trom its earliest period to 
the end of the Anglo-Saxon government. 

We strive not to pierce through that mist of obscurity which veils 
the original population of the British isles; remarking only, as a mat- 
ter of high probabilily, that they derived their tirst inhabitants from 
the Celtai of Gaui. Their authentic history commences with the tirst 
Roman invasion ; and we learn from Ca?sar and Tacitus, that the 
country was at that period in a state veiy remote from barbarism. 
It was divided into a number of small independent sovereignties, each 
prince having a regular army and a fixed revenue. The manners, 
language, and religion of the people, were the same as those of the 
Gallic CeltcE. The religion was the druidical system, whose in- 
fluence pervaded every department of the government, and, by its 
power over tlie minds of the people, supplied the imperfection of 
laws. 

2. Julius Caesar, after the conquest of Gaul, turned his eyes 
towards Britain. He landed on the southern coast of the island, 55 
A. C. ; and meeting w ith most obstinate resistance, though on the 
whole gaining some advantage, he Ibund himself obliged, after a 
short campaign, to withdraw for the winter into Gaul. lie returned 
in the following summer with a great increase of force, an army of 
20.UU0 foot, a competent body of horse, and a fleet of 800 sail. The 
indei>cndent chiefs of the Britons united their Ibrces under Cassibe- 
lanus king of tlie Trinobantes, and encoiuitering the legions with 
great resolution, displayed all the ability of practised warriors. But 
the contest was vain. Capsar advanced into the country, burnt Veru- 
laniium, the capital of Cassibelanus, and, after Ibrcing the Britons 
into articles of submission, returned to Gaul. 

3-. The domestic disorders of Italy gave tranquillity to the Britons 
for near a century ; but, in the reign of Claudius, the conquest of the 
inland was determined. The emperor landed in Britain and com- 
pelled the submission of the south-eastern provinces. Ostorius Scapula 
<ieteated Caiactacus, who was sent prisoner to Rome. Suetonius 
I'aulinu.-:, the general of Nero, destroyed iVlona (Anglesey, or as 
others think, Man), the centre of the druidical superstition. The 
Iceni (inhabitants of Norfolk and Suffolk), under their queen Boadicea, 
attacked several of the Roman settlements. London, with its Roman 
garrison, was burnt to ashes. But a decisive battle ensued, in which 
t-'O-OOO of the Britons lell in the tield, A. D. 61. Thirty yeai-s after, 

(iu the reign of Titus,^the reduction of the island was completed by 
the U< iniui general, Julius Agricola. lie secured the Roman prov- 
ince against invasion from the Caledoni;ins, by walls and garrisons ; 
and reconciled the southern inhabitants to the government of their 
conquerors, by the introduction of Roman arts and improvements. 
Untler Severus the Roman province was extended far into the north 

, of Scotland. 

4. With the decline of the Roman power in the west, the 
southern Britons recovered their liberty, but it was only to become 



124 MODERN HISTORY. 

the object of incessant predatory invasion from their brethren of the 
•north. The Romans, afterrebuilding the wall of Sevenis, finally bid 
adieu to Britain, A. D. 448. The Picts and Caledonians now broke 
down upon the south, ravaging and desolating the country, without a 
purpose of conquest, and merely, as it appears, for the supply of their 
temporary wants. After repeated application for aid from Rome 
without success, the Britons meanly solicited the Saxons for succour 
and protection. 

5. The Saxohs received the embassy with great satisfaction. Brit- 
ain had been long known to them in their piratical voyages to its 
coasts. They landed to the amount of 1,600, under the command of 
Hongist and Horsa, A- D. 450 ; and joining the South Britons, soon 
compelled the Scots to retire to their mountains. They next turned 
their thoughts to the entire reduction of the Britons, and received 
large reinforcements of their countrymen. After an obstinate contest 
of near 150 years, they reduced the whole of England under the Sax- 
on government. Seven distinct provinces became as many indepen- 
dent kingdoms. 

G. Tiie history of the Saxon heptarchy is uninteresting, fronri its 
obscurity and confusion. It is sullicient to mark the dm-ation of the 
several kingdoms, till their union under Egbert. Kent began in 455, 
and lasted, under seventeen j^)rinces, till 827, vyhen it was subdued by 
the West Saxons. Under Lthelbert, one of its kings, the Saxons 
were converted to christi.mily by the monk Augustine. iNorthumber- 
land began in 597, and lasted, umler twenty-three kings, till 792. 
East Anglia began in 575, and ended in 793. Mercia subsisted from 
582 to 827. Essex had fourteen princes, from 527 to 747. Sussex 
had five kings l)efore its reduction under the dominion of the West 
Saxons, al)out 600. Wessex (the country of the West Saxons) began 
in 519^ and had not subsisted above eighty years, when Cadwaila, 
kind; ot Wcsscx, conquered Sussex, and annexed it to his dominions. 
As there ^vas no (ixed rule of succession, it was the policy of the Sax- 
on princes to put to death all the rivals of their intended successor. 
From thi'^ cause, and from the passion lor celibacy, the royal tamilies 
were np:irly extinguished in the kingdoms of the hepj^rchy ; and Eg- 
bert, prince of the West Saxons, remained the sole surviving descendant 
of the Saxon conqucior-j of Britain. This circumstance, so tavourable 
to his ambition, prompted him to attempt the conquest of the heptar- 
chv ; and he succeeded hi the enterprise. By his victorious arras 
and judicious policy all the separate stjites were united into one great 
kingdom, A. D. 827, near 400 years after the tirst arrival of the Sax- 
gns in Britain. 

7. England, thus united, was far from enjoying tranquillity. The 
piratical Xormans or Danes had for fifty yeai^s desolated her coasts, 
and continued, for some centuries after this period, to be a perpetual 
scourge to the country. Under Alfred (the great), grandson of Eg- 
bert, the kingdom nas from this cause redncetl to extreme wretched- 
ness. The heroic Altred in one year defeat*id the Danes in eight bat- 
tles; but a new irruption of their cotintrymen forced him to solicit a 
peace, which these pirates constantly interrupted by new hostiliiies. 
Alfred was compelled to seek his safety for many months in an obscure 
quarter oi the country, till the disordei-s of the Danish army offered 
a fair opportunity of attacking them, which he improved to the entire 
defeai ol his enemies. He might have destroyed them all,but chose 
rather to spare and to incorporate them with his English subjects. 
This clemency did not restrain their countrymen from attempting a 



MODERN HISTORY. 125 

new invasion. They were again defeated with immense loss; and 
the extreme severity which it was necessary to exercise against the 
vanquished, had the eflect of suspending the Danish depredations for 
several wars. 

8. Alfred, whether considered in his public or private character, 
deserves to be reckoned among the best and greatest of princes. He 
united the most enterprising and heroic spirit with consummate pru- 
dence and moderation, the utmost vigour of authority with the mcst 
engaging gentleness of manner, the most exemplary justice with the 
greatest lenity, the talents of the statesman and the man of letters 
with the intrepid resolution and conduct of the general. He found 
the kingdom in the most miserable condition to which anarchy, do- 
mestic barbarism, and foreign hostility, could reduce it : he brought 
it to a pitch of eminence surpassing, in many respects, the situation of 
its contempoi-ary nations. 

9. Alfred divided England into counties, with their subdivisions of 
hundreds and tithings. The tithing or decennary consisted of ten 
families, over which presided a tithing-man or borg-holder; and ten 
ol these composed the hundred. Every house-holder was ;iii!«werable 
for his family, and tlio tithing-man ibr all within bi< tithing. In tlie 
decision of differences the tithing-man iiad the assistance of the rest 
of his decennary. An appeal lay from the decennary to the court of 
the hundred, which was assembled every four weeks; and the cause 
was tried by a jury of twelve Ireeholders, swoni to do impartial jus- 
tice. An annual meeting of the hundred was held for the regulation 
of the police of the district. The county-court, superior to that of 
the hundred, and consisting of all the freeholders, met twice a venr, 
after Michaelmas and Easter, to determine appeals iVom the hundreds, 
and settle disputes between the inhabitants of different hundreds. 
The uUiniiitc ap|)eal from all these cnurt.s lay to the king in council ; 
and the fiequency of these appeals prompted Alfred to (^xtreme cir- 
cumspection in the appointment of his judges. He composed for the 
regulation of these courLs, and of his kingdom, a body of laws, the 
ba«is of the common law of England. 

10. Alfred gave every encouragement to the cultivation of lettei-s, 
as the best means of enujicating barbarism. He invited, from every 
quarter of Europe, the learned to reside in his dominions, established 
schools, and is said to have founded the university of Oxlbrd. He 
was himself a most accomplished scholar for the age in which he 
lived, as appears from the works which he composed: poetical apo- 
logues, the translation of the histories of Jiedeand Orosius ; and of bo- 
ethius on the consolation of philosophy. In every view of his <har- 
acter we must regard Alfred the great as one of the best and wisest 
men that ever occupied the regal seat. He died at the age of fifty- 
three, A. D. 901, after a glorious reign of" twentv-nine years and' a 
half. 

11. The admirable institutions of Alfred were partially and feebly 
enforced under his successors; and England, still a prey to the rava- 
ges of the Danes and intestine disorder, relapsed into confusion and 
barbarism. The reigns of Edward the <Mer, the son of Alfred, and 
of his successoiN. Atholslan, E^lmund, and Edred. were tumultuous and 
anarchical. The cUrgy began to extend their authority over the 
throne, and a series of succeeding princes were the obsequious slaves 
of their tyranny and ambition. In the reign of Ethelred, A. D. ;<01, 
the Danes seriously projected the conquest of England; and led by 
Sweyn king of Denmark, and Olaus king of Norway, made a more 

h'2 



126 MODErxN HISTORY. 

formidable descent, won several important battle?, nnd were restrain- 
ed from the destruction of London only by a dastardly submission, 
and a promise of tribute to be paid by the inglorious Ethelred. The 
Engli«ili nobility were ashamed of their prince, and, seeing no pther 
relief to the kingdom, made a tender of the crown to the Danish 
monarch. On the death of Sweyn, Ethelred attempted to regain his 
kingdom, but tbund in Canute, the son of Sweyn, a prince determined 
to support his claims. On the death of Ethoh-ed, his son Edmtind 
Ironsifie gallantly but ineffectually opposed Canute. At length a 
parlition of the kingdom was made between Canute and Edmund,^ 
which, after a few months, the Danes annulled by the murder of 
Edmund, thus securing to their monarch Canute the throne of all 
England, A. D. 1.017. Edmund left two children, Edgar Alheling, 
and Margaret, afterwards wife to Malcolm Canmore, King of Scot- 
land. 

12. Canute, the most powerful monarch of his time, sovereign of 
Denmark, Norway, anil England, swayed, for seventeen years, the 
sceptre of England nith a liim and vigorous hand. He was severe 
in the beginning of his reign, while his government was insecure; 
but mild and equitable when possessed of a settled dominion. He 
left, A. D. 1,();it), three sons, Sweyn, who was crowned king of Nor- 
way, Harold, who succeeded to t!ie throne of England, and Hardi- 
canute, sovereign of Denmark. Harold, a merciless tyrant, died in 
the tburth year of his reign, and was succeeded by Hardicanute, 
who, after a violent administration of two yeai"s, died in a ht of de- 
bauch. The English seized this opportunity of shaking ofl' the 
Dani'^h yoke, and cont'erred the crown on Edwaixl, a younger son of 
Ethelred, rejecting the preferable right of Edgar Atheling, tt^ son 
of Edmund, who, unfortunately for his pretensions, was, at this time 
abroad in Ilungary. Edward, surrmmed the confessor, A. D. 1,041, 
reigned weakly aiul inglo.iously tor twenty-tive years. The rebel- 
lious attempts of Godwin, earl of VVessex, aimed at nothing less than 
a usurpation of the crown; and on his death, his son Harold, cherish- 
ing secretly the same views of ambition, had the address to secure to 
his interest a very formidable party in the kingdom. Edward, to de- 
feat these views, bequeathed the crown to William duke of Norman- 
dy, a prince whose great abilities and personal prowess had rendered 
his name illustrious over Europe. 

13. On the death of Edward the confessor, 1,C>66, the usurper 
Harold took possession of the throne, which the intrejiid Norman 
determined imniediately to reclaim as his inheritance of right. He 
made the most formidable preparations, aided, in this age of roman- 
tic enterprise, by hiany of the sovereign princes, ami a vast body of 
the nobility, from the different continental kingdoms. A Norwegian 
tleet of oUU sail entered the Humber (a river on the eastern coast 
of England). The troops were disembarked, and, after one success- 
ful engagement, were defeated by the English army in the interest 
of Harold. William landed his anny on the coast of Sussex, to the 
amount of tj(UX)0; and the English, under Harold, flushed with their 
recent success, hastily advanrotl to meet him, being imprudently re- 
solved to venture alfon one decisive battle. The U.{xx\ rout and dis- 
comfiture of the English anny iu the field of Hastings, on the 14th 
day of October, 1,066, and the death of Harold, after some fruitless 
attempts of further resistance, put William duke of Normandy in 
possession of the throne of England. 



MODERN HISTORY. 127 



SECTION XIII. 

OF THE GOVERNxMENT, LAWS, AND MANNERS OF THE 
ANGLO-SAXONS. 

1. The government, laws, and n)anners of the Anglo-Saxons have 
beconoe a subject ot" inquiry to modern writers, as being supposed to 
have had influence in the tbnnation of the British constitution. 
The government of the Saxons 'was the same as that of aH the an- 
cient Germanic nations J and they^naturally retained, in their new 
settlement in Britain, "a policy similar to their accustomed usage?. 
Their subordination was chielly military, the king having no more 
authority than what belonged to the general, or n)ilitary leader. 
There was no strict rule of succession to the throne ; for though the 
king wad generally chosen from the family of the last prince, yet 
the choice usually fell on the person of the best capacity for govern- 
ment. In some instances the destination of the last sovereign regu- 
lated the choice. We know very Uttle of the nature of the Anglo- 
Saxon government, or of the distinct rights of the sovereign and 
people. 

2. One institution common to all the kingdoms of the heptarchy was 
the wittenageraot, or assembly of the wise men, whose consent was 
requisite for enacting laws, and ratifying the chief acts of public ad- 
ministration. The bishops and abbots formed a part of this assem- 
blv ; also the aldermen, or earU, and govemoi-s of counties. The 
witeSf or wise men, are (iiscriminated from the prelates and nobility, 
and have by some been supposed to have been the representati\^.s 
of the commons. But we hear nothing of election or representation 
in those periods, and we must therefore presume that they were 
merely landholdei"s, or men of considerable estate, who, finm ihoir 
weight and conseijueiice in the country, were held entitled, without 
any election, to take a share in the public (lelii)eralions. 

3. The Anglo-Saxon government was extremely aristocratical; 
the regal authority beino; very limited, the rights of the people little 
known or regarded, anu the nobility possesfiing much uncontrolled 
and lawless nde over tln-ir dependents. The ofiices of government 
were hereditary in their families, and they commanded the whole 
military force of their resperiive provinces. So strict was the dien- 
(eUi between these nobles and their vassals, that the niunler of a vas- 
sal was compensated by a fine paid to his lord. 

4. There were three ranks of the people, the nobles, the free, and 
the slaves. The nobles were eillur the king's thanes, who held 
their lands directly tVom the sovereign, or less thanes, who held lands 
from the former. One law of Alhel^tan declareil, that a merchant 
who had niatle three voyages on his own account was eniilled to the 
dignity of thane; another iiecrie»l the *ame rank to a ceorle, or hus- 
bandnjan, who was able to purchase five hides of land, and had a 
chapel, a kitchen, a hall, and a bell. The ceorles, or freemen of the 
lower rank, occ^ipied the farms of the thanes, for which they paid 
rent; and they were removable at the pleasure of their lord. The 
slaves or villains were either emplove»l in domestic purposes, or in 
cultivating the lands. A master was fined tor the murder of his slave ; 
and if he mutilated him, the slave recovered his freedom. 

5. Under this aristocratic al go^ ernment there Avere some traces of 



128 MODERN HISTORY. 

the ancient Germanic democracy. The courts of the decennary, the 
hundred, and the county, were a considerable restraint on the pow- 
er of the nobles. In the county-courts the freeholders met twice 
a year lo determine appeals by the majority of suffrages. The 
alderman presided in those courls, but had no vote : he received a 
third of the fines, the remaining two-thirds devolving to the king, 
which was a great part of the royal revenue. Pecuniary hnes were 
the ordinary atonement for every species of crime, and the modes 
of proof were the ordeal by tire or water, or by compurgators. 
(Part 11, Sect. V., § 7.) 

6. As to the military force, the expense of defending the state lay 
equally on all the land, every live hides or ploughs being taxed to 
furni«Fi a solditM-. There were 243,600 hides in England, conse- 
quently the ordinary military force consisted of 48,720 men. 

7. The king's revenue, besides the fines imposed by the courts, 
consisted partly of his demesnes or property-lands, which were ex- 
tensive, and partly in imposts on boroughs and sea-ports. The Dane- 
gelt w;is a tax imposed by the s^ates, either for payment of tribute 
exacted by the Danes, or for defending the kingdom against them. 
By the custom of gavelkind, the land was divided equally among all 
the male children of the deceased jiroprietor. Lands held by the 
tenure of Borough-English, on the doatli of the tenant, went to the 
youngest son. instead of the eldest. Book-land was that which was 
held by charier, and folk-land what was held by tenants removable 
at pleasure. 

8. The Anglo-Saxons were behind the Normans jn every point of 
civilization; and the conquest was therefore to them a real advan- 
tage, as it led to material improvement in arts, science, goveriujjent, 
and laws. 

SECTION XIV. 

STATE OF EUROPE DURING THE TENTH, ELEVENTH, AND 

TWELFTH CENTURIES. 

L France, from the extent and splendour of its dominion under 
Charlemagne, had dwindled to a shadow under his weak posterity. 
At the end of the Carlovingian period France comprehended neither 
Normandy, Dauphine, nor Provence. On the death of Lewis V. 
(Faineant), the croxvn ought to have devolved on his uncle, Charles 
of Brabant, as the last male of the race of Charlemagne ; but Hugh 
Capetj lord of Picardy and Champagne, the most powerful of tlie 
Frencn nobles, was elected sovereign by the voice of his brother 
peers, A. D. 987. The kingdom, torn by parties, suffered much 
domestic misery under the reiijn of Hugh, and that of his successoi 
Robert; the victim of papal tyranny, for daring to marry a distant 
cousin without the dispensation of the church. 

2. The prevailing passion of the times was pilgrimage and chiv- 
alrous enterprise. In this career of adventure the Normans most 
remarkably distinguished themselves. In 9G3 they relieved the 
prince of Salerno, by expelling the Saracens from his territory. 
They did a similar service to pope Benedict V III., and the duke of 
Capua; while another band of their countrymea fought first against 
the Greeks, and afterwards against the popes, always selling their ser- 
vices to those who best rewarded them. Willi tm Fierabras, and his 
brothers, Humphrey, Robert, and Richnrd, kept tlie pope a pri"';^"'^'' 



MODERN HISTORY. 129 

for a year at Benevento, and forced the court of Rome to yield Capua 
to Richard, and Apulia and Calabria to Robert, with the investiture 
of Sicily, if he should gain the country from the Saracens. In 1,101 
Rogero the Norman completed the conquest of Sicily, of which the 
popes continued to be the lords paramount. 

3. The north of Euroipe was in those periods extremely barba- 
rous. Rui:sia received the christian religion in the eighth century. 
Sweden, after its conversion in the ninth century, relapsed into idola- 
try, as did Hungary and Bohemia. The Constantinopoliian empire 
defended its frontiers with difliculty against the Bulgarians on the 
west, and against the Turks and Arabians on the east and north. 

4. In Italy, excepting the territory of the popedom, the principali- 
ties of the independent nobles, and the states of Venice and (jenoa, the 
greater part of the country was now in the possession of the Nor- 
mans. Venice and Genoa were rising gradually to great opulence from 
commerce. \'enice was for some ages tributary to the emperoi-s of 
Germany. In the tenth century its doge assumed the title oi' duke 
of Dalmatia, of which the republic had acquired the property by 
conquest, as well as of Istria, Spalatro, liagusa, and Nareuza. 

5. Spain was chiefly possessed by the Moors; the christians retain- 
ing only about a fourth of the kingdom, namely, Asluria, pait of Casiile 
and Catalonia, Navarre, and Arragon. Portugal was likewise occu- 
pied by the Moors. Their capital was Cordova, the seat of luxury 
and magnificence. In the tenth century the Moorish dominions were 
split among a number of |x?tty sovereigns, who were constantly at 
war with one another. Such, unfortunately, was Ukevvise the situa- 
tion of the christian part of the kingdom ; and it was no uncommon 
policy for the christian princes to Ibrm alliances with the iMoors 
against one another. Besides these the country abounded with inde- 
pendent lords, who made war their profession, and perforajed the 
ottice of champions in deciding tiie quarrels of princes, or enlisted 
themselves in their service witTi all their vassals and attendants. Of 
these, termed cavalleros andantes^ or knights-errant, the most dis- 
tinguished was Rodrigo the cid, who "iJiidertook for his sovereign, 
Alplionso king of Old Castile, to conquer the kingdom of rv'ew Cas- 
tile, and achieved it with success, obtaining tlie government of Va- 
lencia as the reward of his services. 

6. The contentions between the imperial and papal powers made 
a distinguished liguro in those ages. H* m-y III. vindicated the im- 
perial right to fill the chair of St. Peter, a'ld nominated three suc- 
cessive popes, without the int.-rvention n; a council cf the church. 
But in the minority of his son Henry 1\'., this ri;;l;t was IVequently inter- 
rupted, and Alexander II. kepi his seat, thou;;!! the emperor named 
another in iiis place. It was the lot of tbis iiiiperor to experience 
the utmost extent of papal in^joiencc and tyranny. After a spirited 
contest with Gregory VII., in which the pope w.is twice his prisoner, 
and the emperor iis often excommunicated and deposed. Henry fell 
at length the victim of ecclesiastical vengiance. I rban II., a succes- 
sor of Gt\ gory, prompted the two sons of 1 1 tin v to rebel against 
thi'ir father; and his mislbrtunes were tcnninate»i by imprisonment 
and death in 1,106. The same contests went Oi) unJer a succes.«ion of 

f opes and emperors, but ended commonly in l;i\()ur of the Ibrmer. 
'rederick I. (liarbarossa), a prince of lii;^li spirit, after an indignant 
denial of the supremacy of Alexander 111., and a refusid of the cus- 
tomary homage, was at length compelled to kiss his leet, and appease 
his holiness by a large cession of territoij. Pope Celestmus kicked 

17 



130 MODERN HISTORY. 

off the imperial crown of Henry V'l., while doing homage on his 
knees, but made amends for this insolence by the gift of Naples and 
Sicily, from which Henry had expelled the Normans. These terri- 
tories now became an appanage of the empire, 1,194. The suc- 
ceeding popes rose on the pretensions of their predecessors, till at 
length Innocent HI., in the beginning of the thirteenth century, estab- 
lished the power of the popedom on a settled basis, and obtained a 
positive acknowledgment of the papal supremacy, or the right prin- 
cipaliier et Jiiuditer {jtrincipally amlJinuUy') to confer the imperial 
crown. It was the same pope Innocent whom we shall presently 
see the disposer of the crown of England in the reign of the tyrant 
John. 



SECTION XV. 

HISTORY OF ENGLAND IN THE ELEVENTH, TWELFTH, AND 
PART OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 

1. The consequence of the battle of Hastings Tvas the submission 
of all England to VVilliam the conqueror, The~character of this 
prince was spirited, haughty, and tyrannical, yet not without a por- 
tion of the generous affections. He disgusted his English subjects 
by the strong partiality which he showed to his Norman followers, 
preferring them to all olhces of trust and dignity. A conspiracy 
arose from these discontents, which VV'iUiam <lefeated, and avenged 
with signal rigour and cruelty. He determined henceforwanf to 
treat the English as a conquered people, a policy that involved his 
rei^^ii in perpetual commotions, which, while they robbed him of all 
peace ot mind, aggravated the tyranny of his disposition. To his 
own children he owed the severest of nis troubles. His eldest son 
liobert rose in rebelUon, to wrest from him the sovereignty of 
Maine; and his foreign subjects took piirt with the rebel. VVilliam 
led against them an ;>rmy of the English, and was on the point of 
perishing in light by bis son's hand. Philip 1. of Prince had aided 
this reoellion, which wasavencjed by William, who carried havoc and 
deva-=tai;on into the heart of his kingdom, but was killed in the en- 
tei-;n-ise by a thil from his horse, 1,U87. He bequeathed England to 
VViiiiam hj-« second son; to Robert he left Normandy; and to Henry, 
his youngest son, the property oi' his mother Matilda. 

2. Wi'li im the conqueror introduced into England the feudal law, 
di\iding ihe whole kingdom, except the royal denie«nes, into baron- 
ies, and bestowing the most of these, under the tenure of mihtary 
service, on his fsornian followers. By the forest laws he reserved 
to himself the exclusive privilege of killing game over all the 
kii)^:lom; a restriction resented by his subjects above every other 
m irk of servit'uie. Preparatory to the introduction of the feudal 
teirires, he planned and accomplished a general survey of all the 
lands in the kingdom, with a distinct specification of (heir extent, na- 
ture, value, names of their proprietors, and an enumeration of every 
class of Inhabitants who lived on them. This most valuable record, 
called ' '■ omsday-book^ is preserved in the English exchequer, and is 
now piinled. 

.^. ".Viiliam II. (Rufus) inherited the vices, without any of the 
vit!'i'-s, of his lather. His reign is distinguished by no event of im- 
portance, and, after the defeat of one conspiracy in its outset, pre- 



MODERN HISTORY. 131 

sents nothing but a dull career of unresisted despotism. After a reign 
of thirteen years he was killed when hunting by the random shot of 
an arrow, 1,100. The crown of England would have devolved on his 
elder brother Robert; but his absence on a crusade in Palestine made 
way for the unopposed succession of his younger brother Henry, 
who, by his marriage with IVhUilda, the niece of Edgar Atheling, unit- 
ed the last remnant of the Saxon with the iSorman line, \\ith most 
criminal ambition, he now invaded his brothers dominions of Norman- 
dy; and Robert, on his return, was defeated in battle, and detained 
for life a prisonr^r in England. The crimes of Henry were expiated 
by his misfortunes. His only son was drowned in his passage from 
Normandy. His daughter Matilda, manied fust to the emperor Hen- 
ly v., and afterwards to Geotfrey Plantagenet of Anjou, was destined 
to be his successor ; but the popularity of his nephew Stephen, son 
of the count of Blois, defeated these intentions. Henry I. died in Nor- 
mandy, after a reign of thirty-five years, A. D. 1,1.%; and, in spite of 
his destination to Matilda, Stephen seized the vacant throne. The 
party of Matilda, headed by her natural brother, the earl of Glouces- 
ter, engaged, defeated, and made Stephen prisoner. Matilda in her 
turn mounted the throne ; but, unpopular from the tyranny of her 
disposition, she was solemnly deposed by the prevailing party of her 
rival ; and Stephen was once more restored. He found, however, in 
Henry Plantagenet, the son of Matilda, a more formidable competitor. 
Of a noble and intrepid spirit, he resolved, while yel a bov, to reclaim 
his hereditary crown; and, landing in England, won by his prowess, 
and the favour of a just cause, a great pail of the kingdom to his in- 
terest. Ry treaty with Stephen, who was allowed to reign for lile- 
he Secured the succession at his death, which soon alter ensued, 
1,154. 

4. Henry II., a prince in every sense deserving of the throne, began 
his reign with the reformation of all the abuses of the government of 
his predecessors ; revoking all impolitic grants, abolishing partial im- 
munities, regulating the atlministration of justice, and establishing the 
freedom ot'the towns by charters, which are at this day the basis of 
the national liberty. Happy in the alfertions of his people, and pow- 
erful in the vast extent ol additional territory which he enjoyed on 
the continent in right of his father and of his wile, the heiiess of a 
great portion of France, his reign had every promise of pros}ieri(y 
and happiness; but Iroin one fiital source these pleasing pros))ect8 
were all destroyed. Thomas Becket was raised by Henry from ob- 
scurity to the oHice of chancellor of England. On the vacancy of the 
see 01 Canterbury the king, desirous of his aid in the correction of 
ecclesiastical abuses, conferred the primacy on his favourite ; and the 
arrogant Heckel availed himself of that authority to abase the prerog- 
ative of his sovereign, and exalt the spiritual power above the crown. 
It was disputed, whether a priest could be tried for a murder, and pun- 
ished by the civil cotirt. It was determined in the athrmative by the 
council of Clarendon, against the opinion of Becket. Pope Alexander 
HI. annulled the decree of the council; and Becket, who took part 
with the pope, was deprived by Henry of all his dignities and estates. 
He avenged himself by the excommunication of the king's ministers; 
and Henry, in return, prohibited all intercourse with the see of Rome. 
At length both parties found it their interest to come to a good under- 
standing. Becket was restored to favour, and reinstated in his priniacy, 
when the increasing insolence of his demeanour drew from the king 
some hasty expressions of indignation, which his servants interpreted 



132 MODERN HISTORY. 

into a sentence of proscription, and, trusting that tlie deed would be 
grateful to their master, murdered the prelate while in the act of 
celebrating vespers at tlie altar. For this shocking action Hem-y 
expressed the regret which he sincerely felt, and the pope indulgent- 
ly granted his pardon, on the assurance of his dutiful obedience to 
the holy church. 

5. The most important event of the reign of Henry II. was the 
conquest of Ireland. The Irish, an early civilized people, and among 
the tirst of the nations otthe west who embraced the christian reli- 
gion, were, by Irequent invasions of the Danes, and their own domes- 
tic commotions, replniiged into barbarism tor many ages. In the 
twelftli century the kingdom consisted of live separate sovereignties, 
Ulster, Leinster, Munster, Meath, and Connaught; but these were 
subdivided among an infinite number of petty chiels, owing a very 
weak allegiance to their respective sovereigns. Dermot Macmor- 
rogh, expelled t'rom his kingdom of Leinster for a rape on the daugh- 
ter of the king of Meath, sought protection from Henry, and engaged 
to become his feudatory, if he should recover his kingdom by the aid 
of the English. Henry empowered his subjects to invade Ireland, 
and, while Strongbow earl of Pembroke and his followers were lay- 
ing waste the country, landed in the island in 1,172, and received the 
submission of many of the indepemlent chiefs. Roderick O'Connor, 
prince of Connaught, whom the Irish elected nominal seven ign of 
all the provinces, resisted tor three years the arms of Henry, but 
finally acknowledged his dominion by a solemn embjissy to the king 
at Windsor. The terms of the submission were, an annual tribute ol' 
every tenth hide of land, to be applied tor the support of govenuBent, 
and an obhgation of allegiance to the crown ot Enghimf; on "Wiich 
conditions the Irish sboidd retain their possessions, and Koderick his 
kingdom ; except the territory of ihe Fale, or thiit part which the 
English barons hul subdued before the arrival of Henry. 

6. Henry divided Ireland into counties, appointed sheriffs in each, 
and introduced the laws of England into the territory of the Pale. 
The rest of the kingdom was rt^gulated by their ancient laws, till the 
reign of Edward 1., when, at the request of the nation, the English 
laws were extended to the whole kingdom. In the tirst Irish parlia- 
ment, which was held in the same reign, sir John Wogan presided as 
deputy of the sovereign. From that tune there was little intercourse 
between the two kingdoms for some centuries ; nor was the island 
considered as fully subdued tiH the reign of Elizabeth luid of her suc- 
cessor James 1. 

7. The latter part of the reign of Henry II. was clouded by domes- 
tic misfortunes. His children, Henry, Richard, Geoffi-ey, and John, 
instigated by their unnatural mother, rose in rebellion, and, with the 
aid ol' Louis \ II., king of I'rance, prepared to dethrone their father. 
While opposing them with spirit on the continent, his kingdom was 
invaded by the Scots under William (the lion). He hastened back to 
England, defeated the Scots, and made their king his prisoner. Two 
of his sons, Henry and Geoffrey, expiatr-d their offences by an early 
death ; but Richard, once reconciled, was again sedqced from his al- 
legiance, and, in league with the king of France, plundered his fa- 
ther's continental dominions. The spirit of Henry was unequal to bis 
domestic misfortunes, and he died of a broken heart in the 58th year 
of his age, 1,189, an ornament to the Englisli throne, and a prince sur- 
passing all his contemporaries in the valuable qualities of a sovereign. 



MODERN HISTORY. 133 

To him England owed her first permanent improvement in arts, in 
laws, in government, and in civil liberty. 

8. Richard I. (ccEur de lion) immediately on his accession embark- 
ed for the Holy Land, on a crusade against the infidels, after plunder- 
ing his subjects ot an immense sum of money to defray the charges 
of the enterprise. Forming a league with Philip Augustus of France, 
the two monarchs joined their forces, and acting for some time hi 
concert, were successful in the taking of Acraor Ftolemais; but Phil- 
ip, jealous of his rival's glory, soon returned to France, while Kichard 
had the honour of defeating the heroic Saladin in the battle of Asca- 
lon, with prodigious slaughter of his enemies. He prepared now for 
the siege of Jerusalem; but, finding his army wasted with famine and 
fatigue, he was compelled to end the war by a truce with Saladin, in 
ivhich ne obtained a free passage to the Holy Land fur every chris- 
tian pilgrim. , Wrecked in his voyage homeward, and traveiiiiig in 
disguise througli Germany, Kichard was seized, and detained in pris- 
on, by command of the emperor Henry ^I. The king of I'lancc un- 
generously opj)osed his release, as did his unnatural brother .John, 
Irom selfish ambition ; but he was at length ransomed by his subjects 
for the sum of 15t),(XM merks, and, alter an absence of nine year.--, re- 
turned to his dominions. His traitorous brother was pardoned alter 
some submission; and Richard employed the short residue of bis 
reign in a spirited revenge against his rival Philip. A truce, howev- 
er, was concluded by the mediation of Rome; and liicbard was soon 
after killed, while storming the cantle of one of his rebellious vassals 
in the Limosin. He died in the tenth year of his reign, and Ibrty- 
Becond of his age, 1,199. 

9. John (lack-land) succeeded to the throne on the death of his 
brother, but found a competitor in his nephew Arthur, the son of 
Geolfrey, supported by Philip of France. vVar was of course renew- 
ed with tiiat country. Arthur, with fatal confidence, throwing liim- 
seh'into the hands of" his uncb', ^vas removed by poison or the sword : 
a deed which, joined to the known tyranny of his character, rendered 
John the detestation of his subjects. He was stripped by I'bilip of 
his continental dominions, and he made the pope his enemy by an ava- 
ricious attack on the treasures ol the church. After an ineffectual 
menace of vengeance. Innocent 111. pronounced a sentence of iiilnrdict 
against the kingdom, which put a stop to all the ordinances of religion, 
to baptism, and the burial of the dead. He next excommunicated 
John, and absolved his subjects from their allegiance ; and he linally 
deposed him, and made a gift of the kingdom to Philip. John, intimi- 
dated into submission, declared himself the pope's vasscd, swore alle- 
giance on his knees to the papal legate, and agreed to hold his king- 
dom tiibutary to the holy see. Onthese conditions, w hich ensured 
the universal hatred and contempt of his people, he made his peace 
with the church. It was natural that his subjects, thus trampled upon 
and sold, should vindicate their rights. The barons of the king- 
dom assembled, and, binding themsi-lves by oath to a union of meas- 
nres, resolutely demanded from the king a ratification of a charter of 
privileges granted by Henry I. John appealed"to the pope, who, in 
support of his vassal, prohibited the confederacy of the biirons as re- 
bellious. The barons were only the more resolute in their |)urpose, 
and the sword was their last resource. At length John was com,.. died 
to yield to their demands, and signed at Kunymede, on the 1 9th 
day of June, I, '21.^, that solemn charter, which is the foundation and 
bulwark ol" English liberty, Magna Churta {the great charter). 



134 MODERN HISTOIIY. 

10. By this great charter, 1, the treedom of election to benefices 
was secured to the clergy ; 2, the tines to the overlord on the suc- 
re??«ion of vassals were regulated; 3, no aids or subsidies were allow- 
ed to be levied from the subject, without the consent ol" the great 
council, unless in a lew special cases; 4, the crown shall not seize 
the lands of a baron for a debt, while he has personal property 
suthcient to discharge it ; 5, all the privileges granted by the king to 
his vassals shall be communicated by them to their inferior vassals; 
6, one weight and one measure shall be used throughout the king- 
dom ; 7, all men shall pass from and return to the realm at their 

r»leasure; 8, all cities and boroughs shall preserve their ancient 
iberties ; 9, the estate of every I'reeman shall be regulated by his 
will, and, if he die intestate, by the law; 10, the king's court shall be 
stationary, and open to all ; 11, every freeman shall be fined only in 
proportion to his ofifencej and no fine shall be imposed to his utter 
ruin; Ti, no peasant shall, by a tine, be deprived of his instruments 
of husbandry ; l:-J, no pfi-son shall be tried on suspicion alone, but 
on the e\idence of lawtul witnesses; 14, no person shall be tried 
or punished unless by the judgment of his peers and the law of the 
land. 

1 1. John granted at the same time the Charta de Foresta {the char- 
ter amceriiing; forests)^ which abolished the royal pi'i\ile^e of killing 
game over all the kingdom, and restored to the lawful proprietoi-s 
their woods aiid forests, which they were now allowed to enclose 
and use at their pleiusure. As compulsion alone had extorted these 
concessions, John was determined to disregard them, and a foreign 
force was brought into the kingdom to reduce the barons to submis- 
.sion. Tlie barons applied for aid to France, and Philip sent hiS'Son 
iiCwis to England with an army ; and such was the people's hatred 
of their sovereign, that they swore allegiance to this foreigner. At 
this critical peiiod John died at Newark, in 1,216, and an instant 
change ensued, ills so!i flemy ill., a boy ot" nine years of age, was 
crowned at Bristol; and bis uncle, the earl of Pembroke, was appoint- 
ed protector of the realm. The disatlected barons returned to their 
allegiance; the people hailed their sovereign; and Lewis with his 
army, after an inefiectual .struggle, made peace with the protector, 
and evacuated the kingdom. 



SECTION X\'I. 

(STATE OF GERMANY AND ITALY IN THE THIRTEENTH 

CENTURY. 

1. Frkdkrick if., son of Henry VI., was elected emperor on the 
resignation of Otho IV., in 1,212. At this period Naples, Sicily, and 
Lomhardy, were all apjvanages of the empire; and the contentions 
between the imperial and papal powers divided the states of Italy 
into tactions, known by the name of Guelphs and Ghibellines; the 
former maintaining the supremacy of the pope, the latter that of the 
emperor. The opposition of Frederick to four successive popes 
was avenged by excommunication and deposition ; yet he kept posses- 
sion of his throne, and vindicated his authority with great spirit. 
Frequent attemi)ts were matle against his life, by assassination and 
poison, which he openly attributed to papal resentment. On his 
death, in 1,250, the splendour of the empire was lor many years ob- 



MODERN HISTORY. 135 

scored. It was a prey to incessant factions and civil war, the fruit of 
contested claims of sovereignty. Yet the popes gained nothing by 
its disorders, for the troubles of Italy were equally hostile to their 
ambition. We have seen the turbulent state of England. France 
was equally weak and anarchical ; and Spain was ravaged by the 
contests of the Moors and christians. Yet, distracted as appears the 
situation of Europe, one great project gave a species of union to this 
discordant mass, of which we now proceed to give an account. 



SECTION XVII. 

THE CRUSADES, OR HOLY WARS. 

1. The Turks or Turcomans, a race of Tartars from the regions 
of Mount Taurns and Imans, invaded the dominions of Moscow 
in the eleventh century, and came down upon the banks of the 
Caspian. The caliphs employed Turkish mercenaries, and thev 
acquired the reputation of able soldiers in the wars that took phioe 
on occasion of the contestod caliphate. The caliphs of Bagdat, the 
Abassidae, were deprived of Syria, Egypt, and Africa, by their ri\al 
caliphs of the race of Omar ; and the 1 urks stripped of their do- 
minions both the Abassidre and Ommiadcs. Bagdat was taken i)y the 
Turks, and the empire of the caliphs overthrown in 1,U55; and these 
princes, from temporal monarchs, became now the supreme pontifl'^ 
of the Mahometan faith, as the popes of the christian. At the time 
of the rirst crusade, in the end of the eleventh century, Arabia was 
governed by a Turkish sultan, as were Persia and the greater por- 
tion of Lesser Asia. — The eastern empire was thus abridged ot" its 
Asiatic territory, and had lost a great part of its dominions in Europe, 
it retained, however, CJreece, Macedonia, Thrace, and lllyria; and 
Constantinople itself was populous, opulent, and luxurious. Palestine 
was in the possession of the Turks; anjj its capital Jerusalem, fallen 
from its ancient ci-nsequence and splendour, was yet held in re- 
spect by its conqueroi-s as a holy city, and constantly attracted the re- 
sort of Mahometans to the mosque of Omar, as of christian pilgrims 
to the sepulchre of our Saviour. 

2. Peter the hermit, a native of Amiens, on his return tVnm this 
pilgrimage, complained in loud terms of the grievances which the 
christians suffered from the Turks; and Urban II. pitched on this 
enthusiast as a lit person to commence the execution of a grnnd de- 
sign which the popes had long entertained, of arming all Christen- 
dom, and exterminiiting the infidels Ironi the Holy Land. The project 
was opened in two general councils held at Placentia and Clermont. 
The French possessed more ardour than tlie Ibdians; and an im- 
mense niultil<ide of ambitious anil di;>orderly nobles, with all their 
dependents, eager for enterprise and plunder, and assured of eiernal 
salvation, immediately took the cross. Peter the hermit led 8t),0C)0 
under his bannei-s, and they began their march towards the cast in 
1,095. Their progress was marked by rapine and hostility in every 
christian country through which tliey passed; and the army of th^ 
hermit, on its arrival at Constantinople, was wasted down to '20.000. 
The emperor Alexius Comnenus, to ivhom the crusaders behaved 
with the most provoking insolence and folly, conducted himsrlf with 
admirable moderation and good sense. He hastened to gel rid of 
this disorderly multitude, by furnishing them with every aid >vhich 



136 MODERN HISTORY. 

they required, and cheerfully lent his ships to transport them across 
the Bosphorus. The sultan Solyman met them in the plain of 
JNicea, and destroyed the army of the hermit. A new host in the 
mean time arrived at Constantinople, led by more illustrious com- 
manders ; by Godfrey of Bouillon duke of Brabant, Rjiymond count 
of Thoulouse, Robert of Normandy, son of William king of Eng- 
land, Bohemond, son of Robert Guiscard, the conqueror of Sicily, 
and other princes of high reputation. To these, who amounted to 
some liundred thousands, Alexius manifested the same prudent con- 
duct, to accelerate their departure. The Turks, overpowered by 
numbers, were twice defeated; and the crusaders, pursuing their suc- 
cesses, penetrated at length to Jerusalem, which after a siege of six 
weeks, they took by storm, and with savage fury massacred the 
whole of its Mahometanand Jewish inhabitants, A. D. 1,099. Godfrey 
was hailed king of Jerusalem, but was obliged soon after to cede his 
kingdom to the pope''s legate. The crusaders divided Syria and 
Palestine, and formed four separate states, which weakened their 
power. The Turks began to recover strength ; and the christians 
of Asia soon found it necessary to solicit aid from Europe. 

3. The second crusade set out Irpm the west in 1,146, to the 
amount of 200,000 French, Gernrums, and Italians, lea by Hugh, 
brotJier of Philip I. of France. These met with the same late 
which attended the army of Peter the hermit. The garrison of 
Jerusalem >vas at this time so weak, that it became necessary to 
embody and arm the monks for its defence; and hence arose the 
military orders of the knights templare and hospitallers, and soon 
after the Teutonic, from the German pilgrims. Meantime pope 
Fugenius III. employed St. Bernanl lo preach a new crusade in 
I'rance, which was headed by its sovereign Lewis VII., (the young), 
\vho, in conjunction with Conrad III., emperor of Germany, mus- 
tered jointly :iOO,000 men. The Germans were extirpated by the 
sultan of Iconium ; the French were totally defeated near Laodicea ; 
and the two monarchs, after much disaster, returned with shame to 
their dominions. 

4. The illustrious Saladin, nephew of the sultan of Egypt, formed 
ihe design of recovering Palestine t'rom the christians; and besieging 
.'erusalem, he took the city, and made prisoner its sovereign, Guy 
of Lnsignan. Pope Clement III., alarmed at the successes of the 
infidels, began to stir up a new crusade Irom France, England, and 
Germany ; and tlie armies of each country were headed by their 
respective sovereigns, Philip Augustus, Richard I., and Frederick 
Barbarossa. In this third crusade the emperor Frederick died in 
Asia, and his army, by repeated defeats, mouldered to nothing. 
The English and trench were more successful : they besieged and 
look Ptolemais; but Richard and Philip quarrelled from jealousy of 
each otiier's glory, and the French monarch returned in disgust to 
his country. Richard nobly sustained the contest with Saladin, 
whom he defeated near Ascaion ; but his army was reduced by fam- 
ine and fatigue. He concluded a treaty, at least not dishonourable, 
with his enemy, and was forced at lengtli to escape from Palestine 
with a single ship. (See Sect. XV., § 8.) Saladin, revered even by 
the christians, died in 1,195. 

5. A fouiih crusade was fitted out in 1,202, under Baldvvin count 
of Fiandoi-s, of which the object was not tiie extirpation of tiie infi- 
dels, b'u l.ie destruction of the empire of the east. Consign tjnople, 
embroiled by civil war and revolution irom disputed claims to the 



MODERN HISTORY. 137 

sovereignty, was besieged and taken by the crusaders; and Baldwin, 
their ciiiet, was elected emperor, to be within a few month? dethron- 
ed and murdered. The imperial dominions were shared among the 
principal leaders; and the Venetians, who had lent their ships for the 
expedition, got the isle of Candia (anciently Crete) for their reward. 
Alexius, of the imperial family of the Commeni, founded a new sove- 
reignty in Asia, which he termed the empire of Trebizond. The ob- 
ject of a fifth crusade was to lay waste Egypt, in revenge for aa 
attack on Palestine, by its sultan Saphadin. Partial success and ulti- 
mate ruin was the issue of this expedition, as of all the preceding. 

6. At this period, 1,-27, a great revolution took pl;',ce in Asia, 
Gengiskan with his Tartars broKe down from the north upon Persia 
and Syria, and massacred indiscriminately Turks, Jews, ;uid Chris- 
tians, who opposed them. The christian knights, templars, hospital- 
lers, and Teutonic, made a desperate but ineffectual resistance ; and 
Palestine »nust have been abandoned to these invaders, if its fate had 
not been for a while retarded by the last crusade under Lewis IX. of 
France. This prince, summoned by Heaven, as he beheved, after 
four 3'ears' preparatior), set out tor the Holy Land, with his queen, 
his three brothers, and all the knights of France. His army began 
their enterprise by an attack on Egypt, where, after some consider- 
able successes, they were at length utterly defeated ; and the 
French monarch, with two of his brothers, fell into the hands of the 
enemy. He purchased his liberty at an immense ransom, and, return- 
ing to France, reigned prosperously and wisely for lliirtcen yeai-s. 
But the same phrensy again assailing him, he embarked on a crusade 
against the Moors in Africa, where he and his army were destroyed 
by a pestilence, 1,270. It is com()uted that, in the whole of the 
crusades to Paleslinej,tvvo millions of Europeans were buried in the 
east. 

7. Effects of the crusades. One consequence of the holy wars is 
.supposed to have been the imi»rovcmeiit of European mannei-s ; but 
the times immediately succeeding the crusades exhibit no such actual 
improvement. Two centuries of barbarism and darkness elapsed 
between the termination of those enterprises and the fall of the 
Greek empire in l,lo3, the aera of the revival of letters^ and the 
commencement of civilization. A certain consequence of the cru- 
.sades was the change of territorial property in all the feudal king- 
doms, the sale of the estates of the nobles, and their division among 
a ninnber of smaller proprietors. Hence the feudal aristocracy was 
weakened, and the lower classes began to acquire weight, and a 
spirit of independence. The towns hitherto bound I ly a sort of vassal- 
age to the nobles, began to purchase their imnnmify, acquiied the 
right of electing tlieir own magistrates, and utre governed by their 
own municipal laws. The church in some res[)ects gained, and in 
others lost by those enterprises. The popes gained a more extend- 
ed jurisdiction ; but the fatal issue of those expeditions opened the 
eyes of the world to the selfish and interested motives winch had 
prompted them, and weakened the sway of supersliiiuii. Many of the 
religious orders acquired an increase of wealth; but this was bal- 
anced by the taxes im^iosed on the clergy. The coin was altered 
aiid debased in most of the kingdoms of Europe, from the scai'cily 
of specie. The Jews were supjiosed to have hoarded and conceded 
it, and hence they became the victims of general pei-seciition. The 
most substantial gainers by the crusades were the itaiiaii states of 
Genoa, Pisa, and Venice, from the increased trade to tlie Levant 

M2 18 



138 MODERN HISTORY. 

for the supply of those immense armies. Venice, as tve have seen, 
took an active concern, and obtained her share of tiie conquered 
territory. 

The age of the crusades(brought chivalry to its perfection and gave 
rise to romantic fiction. 

See Kelt's Elements of General Knowledge, vol. I. 



SECTION XVIIl. 

OF CHIVALRY AND ROMANCE. 

1. Chivai.rv arose naturally from the condition of society in those 
ages in which it prevailed. .Among the Germanic nations the profes- 
sion of arms was esteemed the sole employment that deserved the 
name of manly or honourable. The initiation of the youth to this pro- 
fession was attended with peculiar solemnity and appropriate cere-^ 
monies. The chief of the tribe bestowed the sword and armour on 
his vassal, as a symbol of their devotion to his. service. In the prog- 
ress of the feudal system these vassals, in imitation of their chief, as- 
sumed the power of conferring arms on their sub-vassals, with a 
similar form of mAsterious and pompous ceremonial. The candidate 
for knighthood underwent his preparatorv lasts and vigils, and re- 
reived on his knees the accolUidc and benediction of his chief. Arm- 
ed and caparisoned, he sallied forth in quest of adventure, which, 
whether just or not in its purpose, was ever esteemed honourable in 
proportion as it was perilous. 

2. The esteem of the female sex is characteristic of the Gothic 
manners. In those ages of barbarism the castles of the greater bar- 
ons were the courts of sovereigns in miniature. The .society of the 
ladies, who found only in such fortresses a security from outrage, pol- 
ished the manners; and to protect the chastity and honour of the lair, 
was the best employ and the highest merit ol an accomplished knight. 
Romantic exploit therefore had always a tincture of gallantry. 

It hath befii through all ages ever seen. 

That with the praise of arms and chivalry 
The prize of beauty still hath joined been, 

And that for reasons special privity : 
For either doth on otlier much rely ; 

For he, me seems, most fit the fair to serve, 
That can her best defend from villany ; 

And she most fit his service doth deserve 
That fairest is, and from her faith will never swerve. 

Srr..\sF.R's Fairv Queev, 

3. To the passion for adventure and romantic love was added a 
high regard for morality and religion ; but as the latter were ever 
subordinate to the former, we may presume more in favour of the 
refmement than of the purity ot' the knights. It was the pride of a 
knight to redress wrongs and injuries; but in that honourable employ- 
ment he marie small account of those which he committed. It uas 
easy to expiate the greatest oflences by a penance or a pilgrimage, 
which furnished only a new opportunity for adventurous exploit. 

1. Chivalry, whether it began with the Moors or Normans, attain- 
ed its perfection at the period of the crusades, wiiich presented a no- 



MODERN HISTORY. 139 

ble object of adventure, and a boundless field for military glory. 
Few indeed returned from those desperate enterprises ; but those had 
a iiigh reward in the admiration of their C'^untrymen. The hards and 
rom:mcers sung their praises, and recorded their exploits, with a 
thousand circumstances of fihulous embelii-^hment. 

5. The earliest of the old romances fso termed from the Romance 
language, a mixture of tlie Frmk and Latin, in whicli they were 
written) appeared about the middle of the twelflii centijry, the period 
of the second crusade. But tho^e more ancient compositions did not 
record contemporary events, whose known truth would have preclud- 
ed all liberty of fiction or exaggeration. Geoffrey of Monmouth, and 
the author who assumed the name of archbishop Turpin, had free 
scope to their fancy, by celebr.iting the deeds of Arthur and the 
knights of the round table, and the exploit'' of Charlemagne and his 
twelve peei"s. From the fruitful stock of those fli"st romances sprung 
a numerous off-jpring equally wild and extravagant.' 

6. Philosophei*3 have analyzed the pl(>asurc arising from works of 
fiction, and have endeavourotl, by various hypotheses, to account for 
the interest which vve take in the description of an event or scene 
which is known to be utterly impossible. The fact may be simply 
explained as follows. Every narration is in some degree attended 
with a dramatic deception. We enter for the time into the situation 
of the pei-sons concerned; and, adopting their passions and feelings, 
we lose all sense of the absurdity of" their cause, while we see the 
agents themselves hold it for reasonable and adequ;itt>. The most in- 
credulous sceptic may symp;ithize strongly with the feelings of Ham- 
let at the sight of his father s spectre. 

7. Thus powerfully ailbcted as we are by sympathy, even against 
the conviction of our reason, how much greater must liave been the 
effect of such works of the imagination in those days, when popular 
superstition gave full credit to tne reality, or at least the possibility, 
of all that they described ! And hence we mu«it censure, ;is both un- 
necessary and improbible, the theory of Dr. Hurd, wliich accounts 
for all the wildness of the old romances, on the supposition that their 
fictions were entirely idlegoriral ; which explains tne giants and sav- 
ages into the oppressive feudal lord-^and tlicir barbarous dependents; 
as M. Mallet construes the serpen's and dragons which guarded the 
enchanted castles, into their winding wiiiis, fosses, and battlements. 
It were sutbcient to sav, that many of those old romances are inex- 
plicable by allegory. They u'ere received by the pop>d-tr belief" as 
truths; and even their contrivers believed in the possibility of the 
scenes and actions which they described, in hitter ages, aiul in the 
wane of superstition, yet while it still retained a powerful influence, 
the poets adopted allegory as a vehicle of moial instruction : and to 
this period belon^ those j)olilical romances which bear an allegorical 
explanation ; a< ibe Fniry i^nccn of .Spenser, the Orlando of Ariosto, 
and the Giermalemmc Libemta of Tasso. 

8. In more nio.l 'ni times the taste lor romantic composition declin- 
ed with popular credulity; and the fastidiousness of philosophy allecl- 
cd to treat all supernatural fiction with contempt. IbU it was at 
length perceived that this refin9ment haii cut oli' a source of very 
high mental enjoyment. The public taste now took a new (urn ; and 
this m( ral revolution is at present lending to its extreme. We are 
gone back to the nursery to listen to tales of hobgoblins; a chauge 
which we may safely prognosticate can be of no duration. 



140 MODERN HISTORY. 



SECTION XIX. 

STATE OF EUROPE IN THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH 
CENTURIES. 

1. CoNSTAXTiNOPLE, tukcn in 1,202 by the crusaders, was possessed 
only for a short time by its conquerors. It uas governed by FYench 
emperors for the space of sixty years, , and was retaken by the 
Greeks in 1,261, under Michael Palaeologiis, wlio, by imprisoning and 
putting out the eyes of his pupil Theodore Lascaris, secured to him- 
self the sovereignty. 

2. In the beginning of the thirteenth century Germany was 
governed by Frederick II., who paid homage to the pope lor tlie 
kingdom of Naples and Sicily, which was possessed by his son Con- 
rad, and afterwards by his brother Manfred, who usurped the crown 
in violation of the right of his nephew Conradin. Pope Clement IV., 
jealous of the dominion of the imperial family, gave tiie investiture 
"of Naples and Sicily to (^harles ot" Anjou, brother of Lewis IX. of 
Franco, who defeated and put to death bis competitors. The Sicil- 
ians revenged tliis act of u^m-pation and cruelty iiy the murder, in 
one night, of every Frenchman in the island. This shocking massa- 
cre, termed the Sicilian vespers, happened on Easter Sunday, 1,202. 
It was followed by every evil that comes in the train ol" ci\ il war and 
revolution. 

3. The beginning of the thirteenth century had been signalized 
by a new species of crusade. The Albigenses, inhabitants of Alby 
in the Fays de Vaud, were bold enough to dispute many of the tenets 
of the catholic church, judging them contrary to the doctrines of 
scripture. Innocent III. established a holy commission at Thoulouse, 
with power to try and punish those heretics. The count of Thou- 
louse opjjosed this persecution, ancr was, for the punishn)ent of his 
offence, compelled by the pope to assist in a crusade against his own 
vassals. Simon de JNlonfort \v;is the leader of this pious enterprise, 
which was marked by the most atrocious cruelties. The benefits of 
the holy commission were judged by the popes to be so great, that it 
became fiom that time a permanent esUtblishment, known by the 
name of the inqnisiiion. 

4. The rise of the house of Austria may be dated from 1,274, 
when Kodolphus of llapsbourg, a Swiss baron, was elected emperor 
of Germany. He owed his elevation to the jealousies of the elec- 
toral princes, who could not agree in the choice of any one of them- 
selves. The king of Bohemia, to whom Rodolphus had been stew- 
ard of the household, could ill brook the su})remacy of his ibrmer de- 
pendent ; and refusing liim the customary homage for his Germanic 
possessions, Kodolphus strip[)ed him of Austria, which has ever since 
remained in the family of its conqueror. 

z'^'^- The Italian stales of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, were at this time 
flourishing and opulent, while most of the kingdoms of Europe (if 
we except England under Edward I.,) were exhausted, feeble, and 
disorderly.^ A da\vning of civil liberty began to appear in France 
under Philip I\'. {le belV who summoned the third estate to the 
national assemblies, whicli had hitherto consisted of the nobility and 
clergy, 1,303. Philip established perpetual cotu-ts of judicature in 
France, under the name of parliaments. Over these the parliament 



MODERN HISTORY. 141 

of Paris possessed a jurisdiction by appeal ; but it was not till later 
times that it assumed any authority in matters of State. 

6. The parliament of England had before this era begun to assume 
its present constitution. The commons, or the representatives of 
counties and boroughs, were first called to paniament by Henry 
III. Before that time this assembly consisted only of the greater 
barons and clergy. But of the rise and progress of the constitution 
of England we shall afterwards treat more paticularly in a separate 
section. 

7. The spirit of the popedom, zealous in the maintenance and ex- 
tension of its prerogatives, continued much the same in the thirteenth 
and fourteenth, as we have seen it in the three preceding centuries. 
Philip the fair had subjected his clergy to bear their sliare of the 
public taxes, and prohibited all contributions to be levied by the pope 
m his dominions. This double offence was highly resented by Boni- 
face V'lll., who expressed his indignation by a sentence of excom- 
munication and interdict, and a solemn transference of the kingdom 
of France to the emperor Albert. Philip, in revenge, sent his gen- 
eral Nogaret to Rome, who threw the pope into prison. The 
French, however, were overpowered by the papal troops; and the 
death of Boniface put an end to the quarrel. 

8. It is less easy to justily the conduct of Philip the lair to the 
knights templai-s than his behaviour to pope Boniface. The whole 
'of this order had incurred his resentment, from suspicion of harbour- 
ing treasonable designs. He had intliience with Clement V. to pro- 
cure a papal bull warranting their extirpation from all the christian 
kingdoms : and this infamous proscription was carried into eflect 
over all Europe. Those unfortiuiate men were solemnly tried, not 
for their real olTence, l)ut for protended impieties and idolatrous prac- 
tices, and committed to the liames 1,309 — l,ol2. 



SECTION XX. 
REVOLUTION OF SWITZERLAND. 

1. The beginning of the fourteenth century was distinguished by 
the revolution of Switzerland, and the rise of the Helvetic republic. 
The emperor Rodolphus of llapsbourg was hereditary sovereign 
of several of the Swiss cantons, and governed his stales with much 
equity and moderation. His successor Albert, a tyrannical prince, 
formed the design of annexing the whole of the provinces to his 
dominion, and ol erecting them into a principality for one of his 
sons. The cantons of Schweiiz, A'ry, and L nderwald, which had 
alwa.'s resisted the authority of Austria, coniliined to assert their 
freeriom ; and a small army of 400 or 500 men deteated an immense 
host of the Austrians in the pass of Morgate, 1,315. The rest of the 
cantons by degrees joined the association. With invincible pei"sever- 
ance the united cantons won and secured their dear-bought liberty, 
after sixty pitched battles with their em-mies. 

2. Constitution of Snitzerlaml. The thirteen cantons were united 
by a solemn treaty, which stipulated the proportional succours to be 
furnished by each in the case of foreign hostility, and the measures 
to be followed for securing the union of the states, and accommodat- 
ing domestic differences. With respect to its internal government 
and economy, each canton was independent. Of some the constitution 



^42 MODERJN" HISTORY. 

was monarchical, and of others repiibhcan. All matters touching 
the general league were transacted either by letters sent to Zurich, 
and thence officially circulated to all the cantons, or by conferences. 
The general diet, where two deputies attended from each canton, was 
held once a year, the tiret deputy of Zurich presiding. The catnolic 
and protestant cantons likewise held their separate diets on occasional 
emergencies. 

3. The Swiss, when at peace, employed their troops for hire in 
foreign service, judging it a wise policy to keep alive the military 
spirit of the nation ; and the armies thus employed have been equally 
distinguished lor their courage and fidelity. The industry and 
economy of the Swiss are proverbial ; and their country supports an 
abundant population, from the zealous promotion of agriculture and 
manufactures. 



SECTION XXI. 

STATE OF EUROPE IN THE THIRTEENTH, FOURTEENTH, AND 
PART OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURIES. 

1. The rival claims of superiority between the popes and em- 
perors still continued. Henry VIL, the successor of Albert, vindicat- 
ed his right by the sword, triumphantly fought his way to Rome, 
where he was solemnly crowned, and imposed a tribute on all the 
states of Italy. His sudden death was suspected to be the consequence 
of papal resentment. In his timcthe seat of the popedom was trans- 
ferred by Clement V. from Rome to Avignon, 1,309, where it re- 
mained'till 1,377. The factions of Italy were the cause of this re- 
moval, tewis of Bavaria, the successor of Henry, deposed and ex- 
communicated by John XXII., revenged himself by deposing the 
pope. This pontitT, who had originally been a cobbler, surpassed 
most of his predecessors in pride and tyranny. He kept his seat on 
the papal chair, and left at his death an immense treasure accumu- 
lated by the sale of benefices ; while his rival the emperor died in 
indigence. 

2. His successor in the empire, Charles IV., published, in 1,355, 
the imperial constitution, termed the golden iw//, the fundamental law 
of the Germanic bod}", which reduced the number of electors to 
seven, and settled on tnem all the hereditary oflices of state. The 
electors exemplified their new rights by deposing his son Wenceslaus 
for incapacity, 1,400. Three separate factions of the French and 
Italian cardinals having elected three separate popes, the emperor 

vSigismund judged this di\ ision of the church to be a fit opportunity 
for his ihlerlerence to reconcile all differences, and establish his own 
supremacy. He summoned a general council at Constance in 1,414, 
and ended the dispute by degrading all the three pontiffs, and naming 
a fourth, Martin Colonna. This division of the paoacy is termed 
the great sdiisin (>f the west. 

3. The spiritual business of the council of Constance w^ ' no less 
important than its temporal. John Huss, a disciple of Wickliff, was 
tried for heresy, in denying the hierarchy, and satirizing the im- 
moralities of the popes and bishops. He did not deny the charge, 
and, refujing to confess his errors, was burnt alive. A similar iiite 
was the portion of his friend and disciple, Jerom of Prague, whp 



MODERN HISTORY. 143 

displayed at his execution the eloquence of an apostle, and the con- 
stancy of a martyr, 1,416. Sigismund felt the consequence of these 
horrible proceedings ; for the Bohemians opposed his succession to 
their vacant crown, and it cost him a war of sixteen years to attain it. 
4. Whatever was the imperial power at this time, it derived but 
small consequence from its actual revenues. The wealth of the 
Germanic states was exclusively possessed^hy their separate sove- 
reigns, and the emperor had little more than what he drew from 
Bohemia and Hungary. The sovereignty of Italy was an empty 
title. The interest of the emperor in that country furnished only a 
source of faction to its princes, and embroiled the states in perpetual 
quarrels. A series of conspiracies and civil tumults form the annals 
of the principal cities for above 20U years. Naples and Sicily were 
ruined by the weak and disorderly government of the two Joannas. 
•A passion which the younger of these conceived for a soldier of the 
name of Sforza raised him to the sovereignty of Milan ; and her 
adoption, tirst of Aiplionzo of Arragon, and afterwards of Lewis of 
Anjou, laid the foundation of those contests between Spain and 
France lor the sovereignty of the two Sicilies, which afterwards 
agitated all Europe. 



SECTION XXII. 

HISTORY OF ENGLAND IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. On the death of John, his son Henry III. succeeded to the 
crown of England at nine years of age. He was a prince of ami- 
able dispositions, but of weak understanding. His preference of 
foreign favourites disgusted his nobles ; and the want of economy in his 
government, and oppressive exactions, deprived him of the affection 
of his people. Montfort earl of Leicester, son of the leader of the 

" crusade against the Albigenses, and brother-in-law of the king, con- 
ceived a plan for usurping the govei'nment. He formed a league 

'with the barons, on the pretext of reforming abuses, and compelled 
Henry to delegate all the regal power into the hands of twenty-four 
of their number. These divided among themselves the offices of 
government, and new-modelled the parliament, by summoning a cer- 

, tain number of knights chosen from each county. This measure 
was fatal to their own power; for these knights or representatives 
of the people, indignant at Leicester's usurpation, determined to 
restore the royal authority ; and called on prince Edward, a youth 
of inti-epid spirit, to avenge his father's wrongs and save the king- 
dom. 

2. Leicester raised a formidable force, and defeated the royal 
army at Lewes, in Sussex, 1,264, and made both the king and prince 
Edward his prisoners. He now compelled the impotent Henry to 

•ratify his authority by a solemn treaty. He assumed the character 
of regent, and called a parliament, summoning two knights from 
each of the counties, and deputies from the principal boroughs, the 
first regular plan of the English house of commons. This assembly 
exercising its just rights, and asserting with firmness the re-establish- 
j ment of the ancient government of the kingdom, Leicester judged it 
5 prudent to release the prince from his continement. Edward was 
no sooner at liberty than he took the field against the usurper, who 
was defeated and slain in the battle of Evesham, on the 4th day of 



144 MODERN HISTORY. 

Auffust, 1 ,265. Henry was now restored to his throne by the arms 
of hi^ gallant son, who, after establishing domestic tranquillity, em- 
barked in the last crusade with Lewis IX., and signalized his prowess 
by many valorous exploits in Palestine. He had the honour of con- 
cluding an advantageous truce for ten years with the sultan of Baby- 
lon, and was on his return to t-ngland when he received intelligence 
of his accession to the crown by the death of his father, 1,272. 

3. Edward 1. projected the conquest of Wales in the beginning 
of his reign. The Welsh, the descendants of the ancient Britons 
who had escaped the Koman and Saxon conquests, preserved their 
liberty, laws, manners, and language. Tlieir prince, Lewellyn, 
refused his customary homage to the king of England. Edward in- 
vaded Wales, and, surrounding the army of the prince, who retreated 
to the mountains, cut oS all his supplies, and compelled him to an 
unquaiitied submission. The terms demanded were, the surrender 
of a part of the country, a large sum of money, and an obligation of 
perpetual fealty to the crown of England. The Welsh infringed 
this treaty, and Edward marched his army into the heart of the 
country, where the troops of Lewellyn made a most desperate but in- 
efii-'Ctual resistance. In a decisive engagement, in 1,2833 the prince 
was slain. His brother David, betrayed into the hands of the con- 
queror, was inhumanly executed on a gibbet ; and ^Vales, complete- 
ly subdued, was annexed to the crown of ILngland. Witb a policy 
equally absurd and cruel, Edward ordered the Welsh hanis to be put 
to death wherever found; thereby ensuring the perpetuation o^" their 
heroic songs, and increasing the abhorrence of the vanquished people 
for their barbarous conqueror. 

4. The conquest ot Wales inflamed the ambition of Edward, and 
inspired him with the design of extending his dominion to the ex- 
tremity of the island. The designs of this enterprising monarch on 
the kingdom of Scotland invite our attention to that quarter. 



SECTION XXIII. 

UISTORY OF SCOTLAND FROM THE ELEVENTPI TO THE 
FOURTEENTH CEiNTURY. 

L The history of Scotland before the rei^n of Malcolm III., sur- 
named Canmore, is obscure and fabulous, 'ibis prince succeeded to 
the throne in 1,1)57 by the defeat of Macbeth, the murderer of his 
father Duncan. Espousing the cause of Edgar Atheling, heir of the 
Saxon kings of England, whose sisl«'r he married, he thus provoked 
a war with William the conqueror, which was equally prejudicial 
to both kingdoms. In an expedition of Malcolm into England it is 
alleged, that, afier concluding a truce, he was compelled by William 
to do homage for his kingdom. The truth is, that this homag. was • 
done for the territories in Cumberland and Northumberland won by 
the Scots, and bold in vassalage of the English crown ; though this 
homage was afterwards absurdly made the pretext of a claim of 
feudal sovereignty over all Scotland. In a rri^n of twenty-seven 
years Malcolm supported a spirited contest nith l^ngiand, both under 
William 1. -uid his son Kul'us ; and to the virtues of his queen Mar- 
garet, his kingdom, in its domestic policy, owed a degree of civiliza- 
tion remarkable in those ages of barbarism. 



MODERN HISTORY. 145 

2. Alexander I., his son and successor^ del'ended, with equal spirit 
and good policy, the independence ol his kingdom ; and his son 
David I., celebrated even by the democratic Buchiinan as an honour 
to his country and to monarchy, won from Stephen, and annexed to 
his crown, the whole earldom ot' Northumberland. In those reigns 
we hear of no claim of the feudal subjection of Scotland to the 
crown of England; though the accidental fortune of war afterwards 
furnished a ground for it. Wilham I., (tiie Uon), taken prisoner at 
Alnwick by Henry II., was compelled, as the price of his release, to 
do homage for his whole kingdom; an obhgalion wliich liis succes- 
sor Richard voluntarily discliarged, deeming it to have been unjustly 
extorted. 

:i. On the death of Alexander III. without male issue, in 1,235, 
^^ruce and Balioi, descendants of David I. ijy the female line, were 
competitors for tlie crown, and the' pretensions of each were support- 
ed by a formidalile pariy in the kingdom. Edward I. of England, 
chosen umpir e of the contest, arrogated to himst-lf, in that character, 
the feudal sovereignty of the kingdom, compelling all the harons to 
swear allegiance to him, and takiiig actual possession of the country 
by his troops. He thena'ljudgeil the crown to Balioi, on the express 
condition of his swearing fealty to him as lord paramount. B;iliol, 
however, soon after renouncing his allegiance, the indignant Edward 
invaded Scotland with an immense force, and compelled the weak 
prince to abdicate- the throne, and resign the kingdom into his hands. 

1. .William VV.ihace, one of the greatest heroes whom history re- 
cords, restored the fallen iionoui-s of his country. Joined by a lew 
patriots, his lirsl successes in attacking the English garrisons brought 
iiumoers to his patriotic st;uwiard. 'i lieir successes were signal and 
conspicuous. Victory followed upon victory. While Edward was 
engaged on the continent, his troops were utterly defeated in a des- 
perate engagement at Stirling, and forced to evacuate the kingdom. 
Wallace, tue deiivenr of his country, now assumed the title of gov- 
ernor of Scotland under Balioi, who was Edward's prisoner; a dis- 
tinction which w;is followed by the envy and disalTection of many of 
the noliles, and the consi-qucnt diminution of his army. The Scots 
were defeated at Falkirk. Edward returned with a vast accession of 
force. After a Iruitless resistance the .^coltish barons hnally obtained 
peace by a cajutulation, frcim which the brave Wallace was excepted 
hv name. .\ lugilive for some time, he was betrayed into the hands of 
Edward, who put him to d*;alh, with every circuiastance of cruelty 
that l»arbarous revenge could dictate, l,.'iU4. 

.'). Scotland found a second champion and deliverer in Robert 
l.iuce, the grandson of the ctjmpetilor vvilii Baiiol ; who, deeply re- 
seiuing the humiliation of his c<Hintry, once more set up the .<tandard 
of war, and gave defiance to the English monarch, to whom his 
father and grandfither had meanly sworn allegiance. Under this in- 
trepid leader the spirit of the nation was loused at once. The i>ng- 
llsh were attacked in every quarter, and once more entirely dri\en 
out of the kingdom. Robert Bruce was crowned king at Scone. 
l.:306. Edward was advancing with an immense army, and died at 
Carlisle on the 7th day of .Inly, 1,;)07. He enjoined it" with his last 
breatn to his son, Edward II., to prosecute the war with the Scots to 
the entire reduction of the country. 

N 19 



14a MODERN HISTORY. 

SECTION XXIV. 

HISTORY OF ENGLAND IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. In the reign of Edward 1. we observe the constitution of Eng- 
land gradually advancing. Tlie commons had been achnilted to par- 
liament in the latter period of his father Henry III. A statute was 
passed by Edward, which declared, that no tax or impost should be 
levied without the consent of lords and commons. Edward ratitied 
the JMagHU Cliurta no less than eleven times in the course of his n ign ; 
and henceforward this fundamental law began to be regarded as sa- 
cred and unalterable. 

2. Edward II. was in character the very opposite of his lather; 
Aveak, indolent, and capricious; but of humane and benevolent affec- 
tions. He disgusted his nobles by bis attachment to mean and unde- 
serving lavoiH'ites, wliom he raised to the highest dignities of the 
.•state, and honoured with his exclusive contidonce. l^iers Gaveston, 
a vicious and trilling minion, whom the king appointed regent when 
on a journL'V to Paris to marry Isabella, daughter of I'hilip the fair, 
dis::usted the barons to such a pilch, that ihev compelled the king to 
flelt'gate all the authority of government to certain commissioners, and 
to aiiandvm his favomite to their resentment. He was doomed to 
peri-etual imprisonment, and, on attempt to escape, was seized and 
Leheaded. 

iS. Edward, in obedience to his father's will, invaded Scotland with 
an ;u'mv of 1UU,UIIU men. King Robert Hruce met this immense 
lorci; wuh 3li,0UU men at Dannockburn, and defeated ihem with pre- 
di.iious slaughter. This important victory .secured the independence 
o| ."-(colland. Edward escaped by sea to bis own dominions. A new 
liivourito, .'^penser,svipplied the place of (laveston; but his undeserv- 
ed elevation and overbearing character completed the <lisalTectioniol^ 
the nobles to their sovereign. Tlv- queen, a vicious adulteress, join- 
ed the malcontents, and, passing over to France, obtained from her 
brother Charles IV. an army to invade l.ngland, and dethrone her 
husband. Her enterprise was successful. Spenser and his lather 
were betrayed into the hands of their enemies, and perished on a 
scaffold. '\. he king was taken prisoner, trietl by jiariiament, and sol- 
emidy deposed; and being conliwed to prison, was soon after put to 
death in a manner shocking to humanity, 1,327. 

4. Edward III., crowned at fourteen yeai-s of age, could not submit 
to the regency of a mother stained with the foulest of crimes. His 
father's death was revenged by the perixtual imprisonment of Isabel- 
la, and the public execution of her paramour iMortimer. lient on the 
conquest ol Scotland, Edward marched to the north with a prodigious 
army, vanquished the Scots in the lattle of HaliiUnin-hill, and placed 
on the throne Etlward Haliol, his vassal and tributary, lint the king- 
dom was as repugnant as ever to the rule of England, and a fa\oura- 
ble opportunity was taken for the renewal of hostilities, on the depart- 
ure of Edward for a foreign enterprise, which gave full scope to his 
ambition, 

5. On the deatli of Charles IV. without male issue, the crown of 
France was claimed by Julward III. of England, in right of his moth- 
er, the sister of Charles, while, in the mean time, the throne was oc- 
cupied by the male heir, Fhiiip of \ aiois. Edward fitted out an im- 



MODERN HISTORY. 147 

mense armament by sea and land, and, obtaining a signal victory over 
the French fleet, landed on the coast of Normandy, and witli his son, 
the black prince, ran a career of the most glorious- exploits. Philip, 
with 100,000 men, met the English with 30,000, and was entirely de- 
feated ill the field of Cressy, August !26, 1,348. Calais was taken by 
the English, and remained in their posse^^sion 210 years. The En- 
glish are said to have first used artillery in the battle of Cressy. Fire 
arms were then but a recent invention (1,340), and have much con- 
tributed to lessen both the slaughter and the frequency of wai-s. Mr. 
Hume well observes that war is now reduced nearly to a matter of 
calculation. A nation knows its power, and, whcii overmatched, 
eitliervields to its enemies, or secures itself l>y aliiance. 

6. The Scots in the mean time invaded England, and were defeated 
in the battle of Durham by Philippa, the heroic queen of Edward 111. ; 
and their sovereign David II. was led prisoner to London. A truce 
concluded between Edward and Philip was dis^^olved by the death of 
the latter. Philip was succeeded by his son John, who took the held 
with (30,000 men against Ithe bliick prince, and was defeated by him 
with a far inferior number in the signal battle of Poictiei-s, September 
19. 1,356. John king of France was led in triumph to London, the 
leliow-prisoner of David king of Scotland. But England derived lioni 
those victories nothing hut honour. The French continued the wai- 
with great vigour during the captivity of their sovereign, who died 
in London in 1,364. They obtained a peace by the cession to the 
English of Poitou, St. Onge, Perigord and other provinces ; and Ed- 
ward consented to renounce his claim to the crown of France. The 
death of the black prince, a most heroic and virtuous man, plunged 
the nation in grief, and broke the spirits of his fltther, who did not long 
survive him. 

7. Itichard II. succeeded his grandtiither, in 1.377, at the age of 
eleven. Charles V'l.soon after became king of France at the age 
of twelve. Both kingdoms sutiered from the distnictions attending a 
regal minorfty. In England the contests for power between the 
king's uncles, Lancaster, York, and (.Gloucester, embroiled all public 
measures; and the consequent disorders required a stronger band to 
compose them than that of the weak and facile Bhhard. Taking 
advantage of iIjp king's absence, then engaged in quelling an insur- 
rection in Ireland, Henry of LaiiciLster rose in open rebellion, and 
compelled Kichard, at his return, to resign the crown. Tlie parlia- 
ment conlirmed bis <leposilion, and he was soon alter privately assas- 
sinated. Thus began the contentions between the houses of York 
and Lancaster. 



SECTION XXV. 

ENGLAND AND FRANCE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, 
STATE OF MANNERS. 

I. Hextiv I\'. ascended the throne on the deposition of Richard H., 
1,:5!W; an<l bad immediately to combat a rebellion raised by the earl 
of Northumberland, for placing iMortimer, the heir of the house of 
York, on the throne. The Scots and Welsh took part with the rebels, 
but their united forces were defeated at Shrewsbury, and flit ir lead- 
er, young Percy (Hotspur), killed on the field. A'secoud rebellion 



143 ftlODERN HISTORY. 

headed by the archbishop of York, was quelled by the capital punish- 
ment of its author. The secular arm was rigorously extended 
against the followers of Wickliff, and this reign saw the first detestable 
examples of religious persecution. The life of Henry was imbitter- 
ed by the youthful disorders of his son the prince of Wales, who 
afterwards nobly redeemed his character. Henry IV. died in 1,413, 
at the age of forty-six. 

2. Henry V. took advantage of (he disorders of France, from the 
temporary insanity of its sovereign Charles VI., and the factious 
struggles for power between the dukes of Hurgundy and Orleans, 
to invade the kingdom with a large army, which a contagious dis- 
temper wasted down to a fifth of its numbers ; yet with this handful 
of resolute and hardy troops, he defeated the French army of 60,(X)0, 
imder the constable D' Albert, in the lamous battle of Agincourt, in 
which 10,000 of the enemy were slain, and 14,000 made prisoners, 
October 24, 1,415. Hoturning to Fngland to recruit his forces, he 
landed again with an army of 25,0t)0, and Ibugbt his way to Paris. 
The insane monarch, with his court, tied to 'Iroye, and Henry pur- 
suing, terminated the war by a treaty with the queen-mother of 
the duke of Burgundy, by which it was agreed that he should marry 
the daughter of Charles VI., and receive the kingdom of France as 
her dowry, which, till the death of her father, he should govern as 
regent. 

3. Mean time the return of Henry to England gave the dauphin 
hopes of the recovery of his kingdom. He was victorious in an 
engagement \\ ith the English under the duke of Clarence ; but his 
success was of no longer duration than the absence of the English 
sovereign, who was himself hastening to the period of his triumphs. 
Seized with a mortal distemper, Henry died in the 34th year ot his 
age, 1,422, one of the most heroic princes that ever swayed the 
sceptre of England. His brother, the duke of Bedford, was declared 
regent of I' ranee, and Henry VI., an infant nine months old, was pro- 
claimed king at Paris and at London, 1,422. 

4. Charles VII. recovered France by slow degrees. With the aid 
of a y<»ung female enthusiast, the maid of Orleans, whom the credu- 
lity ol'the age supposed to be inspired by Heaven, he gained several 
important advantages over the English, which the latter inhumanly 
revenged, by burning this heroine as a sorceress. Her death was of 
equal advantage to the French as her life had been. The govern- 
ment of the English was universally detested. After a struggle of 
many years, they were at length, in 1,450, deprived of all that they 
had ever possessed in France, except Calais and Guignes. Charles, 
when he had restored his kingdom to peace, governed it with admi- 
rable \visdom and moderation. 

5. The state of England and of France, the two most polished 
kingdoms in Europe, furnishes a good criterion of the condition of 
society in those ages of which we have been treating. Even in 
the large cities the houses were roofed with thatch, and had no 
chimnies. Glass wiiulows were extremely rare, and the doors 
were covered with straw. In England wine was sold only in the 
shops of the apothecaries. Paper made from linen rags was first 
manufactured in the beginning of the fifteenth century; and the use 
of linen for shirts was at that time a very rare piece of luxury. 
Yet even before that age the progress of luxury had excited a se- 
rious alarm, for the parliament under Edward III. found it necessary 
to prohibit the use of gold and silver in a2)parel to all who had not 



MODERN HISTORY. J49 

a hundred pounds a year ; and Charles VI. of France ordained, that 
none should presume to entertain with more than two dishes :md a 
mess of soup. Before the reign of Edward I. the whole country of 
England was plundered by robbers in great bands, who laid wliste 
entire villages; and some of the household ollicers of Henry ill. 
excused themselves for rol)bing on the highway, because the king 
allowed them no wages. In l,30.i the altl)ot and monks of Westmin- 
ster were indicted for robbing the king's exchequer, but acquitted. 
The admirable laws of Edward 1., which acquired him the title of 
the English Justinian, give strong testimony of the miserable policy 
and barbarism of the preceding times. 



SECTION XXVI. 
"decline and fall of the greek empire. 

1. In the fourteenth century , the Turks were proceeding by de- 
grees to encroach on the frontiers of the Greek empire. The sul- 
tan Ottoman had fixed the seat of his government at Byrsa in Bi- 
thynia ; and his son Orcan extended his sovereignty to the Propontis, 
and obtained in m irriage the daiighler of the emperor .John (?anta- 
cu/enos. About the middle of the contury the 'I urks cros«ed over 
into Euro|>e, and took .\diianople. The emperor .lolin Pala^ologus, 
aller meanly soliciting aid from the pope, conchakHl a hun»ilialing 
treaty with sultan Amurat, and gave his son as a hostage to .serve iu 
the Turkish aimy. 

2. Bajazet, the successor of Amurat, compelled the emperor to 
destroy his fort of Galata, and to admit a Tniki-Ii judge into the city. 
He prepared now to besiege Ct)iistinitino|)l<' in form, when he wa'^ 
forced to change his purpose, and deit;nd hiiosell' against the victorious 
Tamerlane. 

li. Timur-bek or Tamerlane, a prince of the Usbfk Tartni"s, and 
descended from Gengiskan, ain-r liie conquest of Persia, a ijreat part 
of India and Syria, was iti\ittnl by the ;\^i•,llic princes, enemies of 
Biijazet, to protect them agniiist the Ouo>n;in powrr, ^\!llch ihn^alen- 
ed to overwhelm them. Tamerlane, llatterod by this requt st, im- 
periously sunmioned the Tuik to renounce his r(<nquesis; but tiie 
messnge was answered with a proud dcliance. 'J'he armies met near 
Angoria (Ancyra) in Phrygia. and iiajii/.et was totally di'lratod jiiid 
made prisoner by Tamerlane. 1,402. The con(|ueror made S;miar- 
cand the capital of his empiro, and there received the hoi'iage olall 
the princes of the east. Tamerlane was illitr rate, Imt yet w;ts solici- 
tious tor the cultivation of literature and science in his dominions. 
Samarcand became lor a while the seat of learning, politeness, and 
the arts: but v/as destined to relapse, after a short period, into its 
ancient liarbarism. 

4. The I'urks, after the death of Tamerlane, resumed their pur- 
pose of destroying the empire of the east. Amurat II., a prince ol" 
singular character, had, on the faitli of a solemn treaty with the 
king of Poland, devoted his days to retirement and study. A viola- 
tion of the treaty, by an attack from the Poles on his dominions, made 
him quit his soUtude. He engaged and destroyed the Polish army, 
with their pertidious sovereign, and then calmly returned to his re- 
treat, till a similar crisis of public expediency once more brought 
him into active Ufe. He lelt his dominions to his son 31ahomct II., 
N2 



150 MODERN HISTORY. 

surnamed the great, who resumed the project for the destruction of 
Constantinople ; but its tall was a second time retarded by the neces^ 
sity in which the Turks were unexpectedly placed, of deiending 
their own dominions against a powerful invader. 

5. Scanderbeg (John Castriot) prince of Albania, whose territories 
had been seized by Amurat II., was educated by thfe sultan as his 
own child, and when of age, intrusted vyith the command of an 
army, which he einployed in wresting from Amurat his paternal 
kingdom, 1,443. By great talents and military skill he maintained 
his independent sovereignty against the whole force of the Turkish 
empire. 

6. Mahomet II., son of the philosophic Amurat, a youth of twen- 
ty-one years of age, resumed the plan of extinguishing the empire 
of the Greeks, and making Constantinople the capital of the Otto- 
man power. Its indolent inhabitants made but a teeble preparation | 
for defence, and the powers of Europe looked on with supine indif- 
lerence. The Turks assailed the city both by land and sea ; and, 
battering down its walls with their cannon, entered sword in hand, 
and massacred all who opposed them. The emperor Constanline 
was .slain; the city surrendered ; and thus was hnallv extinguished " 
the eastern empire of the Romans, A. D. 1,45.3, which, from the 
building of its capital by Constanline the great, had subsisted 1,123 
years. The imperial edifices were preserved from destruction. 
The churches were converted into mosques; but the exercise of I 
their religion was allowed to all the christians. From that time the 
Greek christians have regularly chosen their own patriarch, whom 
the sultan instals; though bis authority continues to be disputed by 
the Latin patriarcl), who is chosen by the pope. Mahomet the great 
liberally patronized the arts and sciences ; and, to compensate for 
the migration ul' those learned Cireeks, who, on the tail ol the empire, 
spread themselves over the countries of Europe, invited both artists 
and m.en of letters to his capital from other kingdoms. 

7. The taking of Constantinople was ibllowed by the conquest of 
Greece and Epirus. Italy niiglit probably have met a similar liite, but 
by means of their lleet the Venetians opposed the arms of Mahomet 
with considerable success, and even attacked him in Greece. The 
contending powers soon after put an end to hostilities by a treaty. 
Mahomet the great died at the age of tifty-one, 1,481. 



SECTION XXVII. 

CiOVERNMENT AND POLICY OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 

1. Thu government of Turkey is an absolute monarchy, the 
whole legislative and executive authority of the state centering in 
the sultan, whose power is subject to no constitutional control. It is, 
however, hmited in some degree by religious opinion; the precepts 
of the Coran inculcating certain duties on the sovereign, which it 
would be held an impiety to transgress. It is yet more strongly hmit- 
ed by the fear of deposition and assiissination. Under these restraints 
the prince can seldom venture on an extreme abuse of power. 

2. The spirit of the people is Ijtted for a subjection bordering on 
slavery. Concubinage being agreeable to the law of Mahomet, the 
grand seignior, the viziers, are born of female slaves : and there is 
scarcely a subject of the empire of ingenuous blood by both parents. 



MODERN HISTORY. 151 

It is a fundamental maxim of the Turkish policy, that all the officers 
of state should be such as the sultan can entirely command, and at 
any time destroy, without danger to himself. 

3. The grand vizier is usually entrusted with the whole functions 
of government, and of course suhjecleil to the sole responsibility for 
all public measures. Subordinate to him are six viziers of the bench, 
Wiio are tiis counsel and assessors in cases of law, of which he is 
suprem- judge. The power of ihe grand vizier is absolute over all 
the suttj.xLs of the empire ; but he cannot put to death a begler- 
beg or a bashaw without the imperial signature ; nor punish a jani- 
zary, unless through the medium of his military commander. The 
begleroegs are the governors of several provinces, the bashaws of 
a single province. AH dignities in the Tukish empire are personal, 
and detiendent on the sovereigrrs pleasure. 

4. The revenues of the grand seignior arise from taxes and cus- 
toms laid on the suliject, a'lnual tributes paid by the Tartars, stated 
gifts from the governors of the provinces, and, above all, the conrts- 
cations of estates, from the viziers and bashaws downwards to the 
lowest s(jbjects of the empire. The certain and hxed revenues of 
the sovereign are small in comparison of those which are arbitrary. 
His absolute power enables him to execute great projects at a small 
expense. 



SECTION XXVIII. 

FRANCE AND ITALY IN THE END OF THE FIFTEENTH 
CENTURY. 

1. Scarcely any vestige of the ancient feudal government now 
remained in France. The only subsisting tiefs were Burgundy and 
Brittany. Charles the bold, duke of Burgundy, who sought to in- 
creiLse his territories by the conquest of Switzerland and Lorraine. 
was defeated by the Swis-J, and killed in balile. Me left no son, ancl 
Lewis XI. of l" ranee took possession of Burgundy as a male lief, 
1,U7. The duke's daughter marri'd Maximilian, son of the empe- 
ror Frederick 111., who, by this marriage, acquired the sovereignty 
of the Netherlands. 

2. The accniisition of Burgundy and of Provence, which was be- 
queathed to l-raiice by the count de la JMarche, increased very great- 
ly the power of the crown. Lewis XI., an oilious compound of vice, 
cruelty, and superstition, and a tyrant to his people, was the author ' 
of many wise and excellent regulations of public policy. The bar- 
barity of the public executions in his reign is beyond all belief; yet 
the wisdom of his laws, the encouragement which he gave to com- 
merce, the restraints which he imposed on the oppressions of the 
noliiiity, and the attention uhich he bestowed in regulating the courts 
of justice, must ever be mentioned to his honour. 

'3. The count de la Marche, beside the bequest of Provence to 
Lewis XI., left him his empty title of sovereign of the Two Sicilies. 
Lewis was satistied with the substantial gift: but his son CJharles 
VIU. was dazzled with the shadow. In the beginning of his reign 
he projected the conquest of Naples, and embarked in the enterprise 
with the most improvident precipitancy. 

4. The dismembered elate of Italy was favourable to his views. 



J 52 MODERN HISTORY. 

The popedom, during the transference of its seat to Avignon, had 
lost manv of its territories. Mantua, Modena. and Ferrara, had their 
independent sovereigns. Piedmont belonged to the duke of Savoy ; 
Genoa and Milan to the family of Sforza. Florence, under the Medi- j 
ci had attained a very high pitch of splendour. Cosmo, the founder j| 
ot^hat family, employed a vast fortune, acquired by commerce, in 
the improvement of his country, in acts of public munificence, and in 
the cultivation of the sciences and elegant arts. His high reputation 
. obtained for himself and his posterity the chief authority in his native 
state. Peter de Medici, his great grandson, ruled in Florence at the 
period of the expedition of Charles ViU. into Italy. 

5. The papacy was enjoyed at this time by Alexander VI., a mon- , 
ster of wickeflness. The "pope and the duke of Milan, who had invited ' 
Charles to this enterprise, immediately betrayed him, and joined the 
interest of the king of Naples. Charles, after besieging the pope in 
llome, and forcing him to submission, devoutly kissed his feet. He 
now marched against Naples, while its timed prince Alphonso fled to 
Sicily, and his son to the isle of Ischia, after absolving his subjects 
from their allegiance. Charles entered Naples in triumph, and was 
hailed emperor and Augustus: but he bwt his new kingdom in almost 
as short a time as he hud gained it. A league was formed against 
France between the pope, the emperor Maximilian, Ferdinand of Ar- 
ragon, Isabella of Castile, and the Venetians ; and on the return of 
Charles to France, the troops which he had left to guard his conquest 
were entirely driven out of Italy. ^ 

6. It has been remarked that, from the decisive effect of this con- | 
federacy against Charles V'lll., the sovereigns of Kurope derived a 
useful lesson of policy, and first adopted the idea of prestjrving a bal- 
ance of power, by that tacit league which is understood to be always 
subsisting, for the prevention of the inordinate aggrandizement of any 
particular state. 

7. Charles V III. died at the age of twenty-eight, 1,498 ; and, leav- 
ing no children, the duke of Orleans succeeded to the tlirone of ' 
France by the title of Lewis Xli. 

SECTION XXIX. 

HISTORY OF SPAIN IN THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH 
CENTURIES. 

1. We go back a little to the middle of the fourteenth century, to 
trace the liistory of Spain. Peter of Castile, sumamed the cruel, for 
no other reason but that he employed severe means to support his 
just rights, had to contend against a bastard brother, Henry of Trans- 
\amarre, who, with the aid of a French banditti, called Malandrins, 
led by Bertrand du Guescliii, strove to dispossess him of his kingdom. 
Peter was aided by Edward the black prince, then sovereign of Gui- 
enne, who defeated Transtamarre, and took Bertrand prisoner; but, 
on the return of the prince to England, Peter was attacked by his 
former enemies, and entirely defeated. Unable to restrain his rage 
in the first view with Transtamarre, the latter put him to death with 
his own hand, 1.368 ; and thus this usurper secured for himself and 
his posterity the throne of Castile. 

2. The weakness and debauchery of one of his descendants, Hen- 
ry IV. of Castile, occ:isioned a revolution in the kingdom. The ma- 



MODERN HISTORY. 163 

jority of the nation rose in rebellion ; the assembly of the nobles sol- 
emnly deposed their king, and, on the alleged ground of his daughter 
Joanna being a bastard, compelled iiim to settle the crown on his sis- 
ter Isabella. They next brought about a marriage between Isabella 
and Ferdinand of Arragon, which united the monarchies of Arragoa 
and Castile. After a ruinous civil war the revolution was at length 
completed by the death of the deposed sovereign, 1,474, and the re- 
tirement of his daughter Joanna to a monastery, 1,479. 

3. At the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella to the thrones of Ar- 
ragon and Castile, Spain was in a state of great ilisorder, from the 
lawless depredations of the nobles and their vassals. It was the tirst 
object of the new sovereigns to repress these enormities, by subject- 
ing the offenders to the utmost rigour of law, enforced by the sword. 
,Trte holy brotfierhood was instituted for the discovery and punishment 
of crimes,- and the inquisition (Sect. XIX, 6 3), under the pretext of 
extirpating heresy and impiety, afforded the most detestable exam- 
ples of sanguinary persecution. 

4. The Aloorish kingdom of Granada, a most splendid monarchy, 
but at that time weakened by faction, and a prey to civil war, offered 
a tempting object to the ambition of Ferdinand and Isabella. Alboa- 
cen was at war with his nephew Aboabdeii, who wanted to dethrone 
him ; and Ferdinand aided Abofvbdeli, in the view of ruining both ; 
for no sooner was the latter in possession of the crown by the death 
of Alboacen, than Ferdinand invaded his ally with the whole force of 
Arragon and Castile. Granada was besieged in 1,491, and, after a 
blockade of eight months, surrendered to the victor. Aboabdeii, by 
a mean capitulation, saved his life, and purchased a retreat for his 
countrymen to a mountainous part of the kingdom, where they were 
sufl'ered to enjoy unmolested their laws and their religion. Thus 

^ended the dominion of the Moors in Spain, which had subsisted for 
800 years. 

5. Ferdinand, from that period, took the title of king of Spain. la 
1,492 he expelled all the Jews from his dominions, on the absurd 
ground, that they kept in their hands the commerce of the kingdom; 
and Spain thus lost above 150,000 of the most industrious of her in- 
habitants. The exiles spread themselves over the other kingdoms of 
Europe, and were often the victims of a persecution equally inhuman. 
It would appear that Spain has felt, even to the present times, the ef- 
fects of this folly, in the slow progress of the arts, and that deplora- 
ble inactivity which is the characteristic of her people. Even the 
discovery of the new world, which happened at this very period, and 
which stimulated the spirit of enterprise and industry in all the neigh- 
bouring kingdoms, produced but a feeble impression on that nation, 
which might in a great degree have monopolized its benefits. Of 
that great discovery we shall afterwards treat in a separate section. 



SECTION XXX. 

FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ITALY, IN THE END OF THE FIF- 
TEENTH AND BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. Lewis XII., eagerly bent on vindicating his right to Naples, 
courted the interest of pope Alexander V 1., who promised his aid on 
condition that his natural son, C«sar Borgia, should receive from 
Lewis the duchy of Valentinois, with the king of Navarre's sister ia 

20 



154 MODERN HISTORY. 

marriage. Lewis crossed the Alps, and in the space of a few days 
was master of Milan and Genoa. Sforza duke of Milan became his 
prisoner for life. Afraid of the power of Ferdinand of Spain, Lewis 
joined with him in the conquest of Naples, and agreed to divide 
witii him the conquered dominions, the pope making no scruple to 
sanction the partition. But the compromise was of no duration ; 
for Alexander VI., and Ferdinand, judging it a belter policy to share 
Italy between themselves, united their interest to deprive Lewis 
of his new territories. The Spaniards, under Gonsalvo de Cordova, 
tleleated the French, under the duke de Nemours and the chevalier 
Bityard ; and Lewis irrecoverably lost his share of the kingdom of 
Naples. ^ 

2. History relates with horror the crimes of pope Alexander V^., 
and his son Caesar Borgia ; their murders, robberies, profanations, 
incests. They compassed their ends in attaining every object of 
the ir ambition, but with the universal abhorrence of mankind, and 
iiiutiiy met with an ample retribution for their crimes. The pope 
died by poison, prepared, as was alleged, by himself for an enemy; 
and Borgia, stripped of all his possessions by pope Julius II., and sent 
prisoner to Spain by Gonsalvo de Cordova, perished in miserable , 
obscurity. 

3. Julius II., the successor of Alexander, projected the formidable 
league of Cambray, 1,608, with the emperor, the kings of France 
Hnd Spain, the duke of Savoy, and king of Hungary, for the destruc- 
tion of Venice, and the division of her territories among the confed- | 
erates. They accomplished in part their design, and Venice was on > 
tiie verge of annihilation, when the pope changed his politics. 
Having made the French subservient to his views of plundering the ■ 
Venetians, he now formed a new league with the Venetians, Ger- 
mans, and Spaniards, to expel the French from Italy, and appropriate | 
all their conquests. The Swiss and the English co-operated in this 
tiesign. The French made a brave resistance under their generals j 
Bayard and Gaslon de Foix, but were finally overpowered. Lewis I 
was comjjelled to evacuate Italy ; Ferdinand, with the aid of Henry , 
V'lII. oi" England, stripped him of Navarre, and forced him to pur- ' 
chase a peace. He died in 1,515. Though unfortunate in his milita- 
ry enterprises, from the superior abilities of his rivals pope Julius 
and Ferdinand, yet he was justly esteemed by his subjects for the 
wisdom and equity of his government. 



SECTION XXXI. 

HISTORY OF ENGLAND FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE > 
FIFTEENTH TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH 
CENTURY. CIVIL WARS OF YORK AND LANCASTER. 

1. We have seen France recovered from the English in the early 
part of the reign of Henry VI., by the talents and prowess of Charles 
vlll. During the minoi'ity of Henry, who was a prince of no capa- 
city, England was embroiled by the factious contention for power , 
between his uncles, the duke of Gloucester and the cardinal of Win- 
chester. The latter, to promote his own views of ambition, married 
Henry to Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Regner the titular Iviiijj, of 
Naples, a woman of greal mental endowments and singular heroism 



MODERN HISTORY. 165 

of character, but whose severity in the persecution of her enemies 
alienated a great part of the, nobles from their allegiance, and in- 
creased the partisans of a rival claimant of the crown. 

2. This was Richard duke of York, descended by his mother from 
Lionel, second son of Edward lU., and elder brother to John of Gaunt, 
the progenitor of Henry VI. The white rose distinguished the fac- 
tion of York, and the red rose that of Lancaster. The party of 
York gained much strength fjom the incapacity of Henry, who was 
suliject to periodical madness ; and Richard was appointed lieutenant 
and protector of the kingdom. The authority of Henry was now 
annihilated ; but Margaret roused her husband, in an interval of 
sanily, to assert his right; and the nation was (hvided in arms be- 
tvveen the rival parties. In the battle of St. Albans 5,00(J of the 
Lancastrians were slain, and the king was taken prisoner hy the duke 
of York, on t!ie 22d day of May, 1,155. Yet the parliament, while 
it confirmed the authority of the protector, maintained its allegiance 
to the king. 

3. The spirit of the queen reanimated the royal party ; and the 
Lancastrians gained such advantage, that the duke of 1 ork Hed to 
Ireiand, while his cause was secretly maintained in England by Guy 
earl of Warwick. In the battle of iVoithampton the party of York 
again prevailed, and Henry once more was brought prisoner to Lon- 
don; while his dauntless queen still nobly exerted herself to retrieve 
his tbrtunes. York now claimed the crown in open parliament, but 
prevailed only to have his right of succession ascertained on Henry's 
death, to the exclusion of the royal issue. 

4. In the next battle the duke of York was slain, and his party de- 
feated ; but his successor Edward, supported by Warwick, avenged 
this disaster by a signal victory near Touton, in Yorkshire, in 
which 40.0U0 of the Lancastrians were slain. York was proclaimed 
king by tne title of Edward iV., while Margaret, with her detlironed 
husband and infant son, tied into Flanders. . 

5. Edward, who owed his crown to . Waryvick, was ungrateful 
to his benefactor; and the imprudence and , injustice of his conduct 
forced that nobleman at lengtii to take part with the faction of Lan- 
caster. The consequence was, that, after some struggles, Edward 
was deposed, and Hemy VI. once more restored to the throne by 
the hands of Warwick, now known by the epithet of the king-maker. 
But this change was of no duration. The party of York ultimately 
prevailed. The Lancastrians were defeated in the battle of Barnet, 
and the brave Warwick was slain in the engagement, 1,472. 

6. Tlie intrepid Margaret, whose spirit was superior to every 
change of fortune, prepared to strike a last blow for the crown of 
England in the battle of Tewksbury. The event was fatal to her 
hopes : victory declared for Edward. Margaret was sent prisoner to 
the tower of London ; and the prince her son, a youth of high spirit, 
when brought into the presence of his conqueror, having nobly dared 
to justify his enterprise to the face of his rival, was barbarously mur- 
dered by the dukes of Gloucester and Clarence. Henry VI. was 
soon after privately put to death in the Tower. The heroic Margaret, 
ransomed by Lewis XL, died in France, 1,482. 

7. Edward IV., thus secured on the throne by the death of all his 
competitors, abandoned himself without reserve to the indulgence of 
a vicious and tyrannical nature. He put to death, on the most frivo- 
lous pretence, his brother Clarence. Preparing to gratify his subjects^ 
by a war with France, he died suddenly id the forty-second year oi^ 



'. 



156 MODERN HISTORY. 

his age, poisoned, as was suspected, by his brother Richarcl duke of 
Gloucester, 1,483. 

8. Edward left two song, the elder, Edward V., a boy of thirteen 
years of age. Richard duke of Gloucester, named protector in the 
minority of his nephew, •fiired, by means of Buckingham, a mob of 
the dregs of the populace to declare their wish for his assumption I 
of t!)e crovvn. He yielded, with affected reluctance, to this voice of 
the nation, and^ was proclaimed king by the title of Richard 111., 1 ,483. 
Edward \'., after a reign of two months, with his brother the duke 
of York, were, by command of the usurper, smothered while asleep, 
and [.rivateiy buried in the Tower. 

9. These atrocious crimes found an avenger in Henry earl of 
Richmond, the surviving heir of the house o{ Lancaster, who, aided 
by Charles VIII. of France, landed in England, and revived the spirits 
of a party almost extinguished in the kingdom. He gave battle to 
Richard in the held of Rosworth, and entirely defeated the army of | 
the usurper, who was slain while lighting with the most desperate 
courage, August 22, 1 ,485. vThe crown which he wore in the engage- 
ment was immediately placed on the head of the conqueror. This 
fiuspicious day put an end to the civil wars of York and Lancaster, 
ll^nry VII. united the rights of both families by his marriage with 
Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV. 

10. The reign of Henry VII. was of twenty-four years' duration; 
and under his wise and politic government the kingdom recovered 
all the wounds which it had sustained in those unhappy contests. 
Industry, good order, and perfect subordination, were the fruit of thB 
excellent laws passed in this reign ; though the temper of the sove- 
reign was despotic, and his avarice, in the latter part of his reign, 
prompted to the most oppressive exactions. 

11. The government of Hetiry was disturbed by two very singular 
enterprises; the attempt of Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker, to 
counterfeit the person of the earl of Warwick, son of the duke of 
Clarence ; and the similar attempt of Perkin VVarbeck, son of a 
Flemish Jew, to counterfeit the duke of York, who had been smother- 
ed in the Tower by Richard III. Both impostors found considerable 
support, but were finally deleated. Simnel, after being crowned 
king of England and Ireland at Dublin, ended his days in a menial 
othce of Henry's household. Perkin supported his cause by tbrce 
of arms for five years, and was aided by a gi'eat proportion ofthe 
English nobility. Overpowered at length he surrendered to Henry, 
who condemned him to perpetual imprisonment; but his ambitious 
spirit meditated a new insurrection, and he was put to death as a 
tndtor. Henry VII. died in 1,5U9, in the fifty-third year of his age, 
and the twenty-fourth of his reign. 



SECTION XXXIL 

HISTORY OF SCOTLAND FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE 
FOURTEENTH CENTURY TO THE END OF THE REIGN OF 
JAMES V. 

1. In no country of Europe had the feudal aristocracy attained to 
a greater height than in Scotland. The power of the greater 
barons, while it rendered them itidependent, and often the rivals 



MODERN HISTORY. 157 

of their sovereign, was a perpetual source of turbulence and dis- 
order in the kingdom. It was therefore a constant pohcy of the 
Scottish kings to humble the nobles, and break their factious com- 
binations. Robert I. attempted to retrench the vast territorial pos- 
sessions of his barons, by requiring every landholder to produce the 
titles of his estate ; but was resolutely answered, that the sword was 
their charter of possession. 

2. On the death of Robert in 1,329, and during the minority of 
his son David, Edward Baliol, the son of John formerly king of 
Scotland, with the aid of Edward III. of England, and of many of 
the factious barons, invaded the kingdom, and was crowned at Scone, 
while the young David was conveyed for security to France. The 
maan dependence of Raliol on the English monarch deprived him of 
the affections of the people. Robert, the steward of Scotland, Ran- 
dolph, and Douglas, supported the Brucian interest, and, assisted by 
the French, restored David to his throne. This prince was destined 
to sustain many reverses of fortune ; tor, in a subsequent invasion of 
the English territory by the Scots, he was taken prisoner in the bat- 
tle of Durham, and conveyed to London. He remained eleven 
years in captivity, and witnessed a similar fate of a brother monarch, 
John king of France, taken prisoner by the black prince in the battle 
of Foictiers. David was ransomed by his subjects, and restored to 
his kingdom in 1,357 ; and ended a turbulent reign in 1,370-1. The 
crown passed at his demise to his nephew Robert, the high steward 
of Scotland, in virtue of a destination made by Robert I. 

3. The reign of Robert II., which was of twenty years' duration, 
was spent -in a series of hostilities between the Scots and English, 
productive of no material consequence to either kingdom. The 
weak and indolent disposition of his successor Robert 111., who found 
himself unequal to the contest with his factious nobles, prompted 
him to resign the government to his brother, the duke of Albany. 
This ambitious man formed the design of usurping the throne by the 
murder of his nephews, the sons of Robert. The elder, Rothsay, a 
prince of high spirit, was imprisoned on pretence of treasonable de- 
signs, and starved to death. The younger, James, escaped a similar 
fate which was intended for him; but on his passage to France, 
whither he was sent for safety by his father, h^ was taken by an Eng- 
lish ship of war, and brought prisoner to London. The weak Robert 
sunk under these misfortunes, and died, 1,405, after a reign of lifteen 
years. 

4. James I., a prince of great natural endowments, profited by a 
captivity of eighteen years at the court of England, in adorning his 
mind with every valuable accomplishment. At his return to his 
kingdom, which in his absence had been weakly governed by the 
regent Albany, and suffered under all the disorders of anarchy, he 
bent his whole attention to the improvement and civilization of his 
people, by the enactment of many excellent laws, enforced with a 
resolute authority. The factions of the nobles, their dangerous com- 
binations, and their domineering tyranny over their dependents, the 
great sources of the people's miseries, were firmly restrained, and 
most severely punished. But these wholesome innov^ations, while 
they procured to James the affections of the nation at large, excited 
the odium of the nobility, and gave birth to a consjjiracy, headed 
Jby the earl of Athole, the king's uncie, which terminated in the 

' murder of this excellent prince, in the 44th year of his age, A. D. 
1,437. 

O 



138 MODERJN HISTORY. 

5. His son James II. inherited a considerable portion of the talents 
of his father ; and, in the like purpose of restraining the inordinate 
power of his nobles, pursued the same maxims of government, which 
an impetuous temper prompted him, in some instances, to carry to 
the most blameable excess. The earl of Douglas, trusting to a pow- 
erful vassalage, had assumed an authority above the laws, and a state 
and splendour rival to those of his sovereign. He was seized, and 
beheaded without accusation or trial. His successor imprudently 
running the same career, and boldly justifying, in a conference, his 
rebellious practices, was put to death by the king's own hand. Thus 
were the factions of the nobles quelled by a barbarous rigour of 
authority. To his people James was beneficent and humane, and 
his laws contributed materially to their civilization and prosperity. 
He was killed, in the 30th year of his age, by the bursting of a can- 
non, in besieghig the castle of Roxburgh, A. D. 1,460. 

6. His son James III., without the talents of his predecessors, 
aft'ectod to tread in the same steps. To humble his nobles he be- 
stowed his confidence on mean favourites, an insult which the for- 
mer avenged by rebellion. His brothers Albany and Mar, aided 
by Edward IV. of England, attempted a revolution in the kingdom, 
which was frustrated only by the death ot" Edward. In a second re- 
bellion the confederate nobles forced the prince of Rothsay, eldest sen 
of James, to appear in arms against his father. In an engji^emeut 
near Bannockbum the rebels were successful, and the king/was slain 
in the 35th near of his age, 1,488. 

7. James IV., a great and most accomplished prince, whose talents 
were equalled by his virtues, while his measures of government were 
dictated by a true spirit of patriotism, w on by a well-placed confi- 
dence the aflections of his nobihty. In his marriage with Margaret, 
the daughter of Henry VII. ot England, both sovereigns wisely 
sought a bond of amity between the kingdoms ; but this purpose w as 
frustrated in the succeeding reign of Henry \ 111. The high spirit of 
ihe rival monarchs was easily inflamed by tritling causes of olfence; 
and France, then at war with England, courted the aid of her an- 
cient ally. James invaded England w ith a powerful army, which he 
wished to lead to immediate action ; but the jirudent delays of Surrey, 
the English general, wasted and weakened his force. In the fatal 
battle of Elodden the Scots were defeated with prodigious slaughter. 
The gallant James perished in the fight, and with him almost the 
whole of the Scottish nobles, A. D. 1,613. 

8. Under the long minority of his son James V., an infant at the 
time of his father's death, the kingdom was feebly ruled by his uncle 
Albany. The aristocracy began to resume its ancient spirit of" inde- 
pendence, which was ill-brooked by a prince of a proud and un- 
controlable mind, who lelt the keenest jealousy of a high preroga- 
tive. With a systematic policy he employed the church to abuse the 
nobility, conferring all the offices of state on able ecclesiastics. The 
cardinal Beaton co-operated with great zeal in the designs of his 
master, and under him ruled the kingdom. 

9. Henry Mil., embroiled with the papacy, sought an alliance 
with the king of Scots ; but the ecclesiastical counsellors of the lat- 
ter defeated this beneficial purpose. A war was thus provoked, and 
James was reluctantly compelled to court those nobles whom it had 
hitherto been his darling object to humiliate. They now determined 
on a disgraceful revenge. In an attack on the Scottish border the 
English were repelled, and an opportunity oQered to the Scots of 



MODERN HISTORY. 15B 

cutting off their retreat. The king gave his orders to that end, but 
his barons obstinately refused to advance beyond the frontier. One 
measure more was wanting to drive their sovereign to despair. In a 
sul'Sequent engagement with the English 10,000 of the Scots deliber- 
ately surrendered themselves prisoners to 500 of the enemy. The 
high spirit of James sunk under his contending passions, and he died of 
a broken heart in the 33d year of his age, A. D. 1,542, a few days 
after the birth of a daughtei", yet more unfortunate than her father, 
Mary queen of Scots. 



SECTION XXXIII. 

OF THE ANCIENT CONSTITUTION OF THE SCOTTISH GOVERN- 
MENT. 

1. We have seen that it was a constant policy of the Scottish kings 
to abase the power of their nobles ; and that the struggle for power 
was the source of much misery and bloodshed. But this policy was 
necessary, from the diiugerous ambition and lawless tyranny of those 
nobles, who frequently aimed at overturning the throne, and exercis- 
ed the severest oppression on all their dependents. The interests, 
therefore, of the people, no less than the security of the prince, de- 
manded the repression of this overweening and destructive powei'. 
The aristocracy was, however, preserved, no less by its own strength 
tlian by the concurrence of circumstances, and chiefly by the violent 
and unliappy fate of the sovereigns. Meemtime. though the meas- 
ures vvhich the kings pursued were not successfiil, yet their conse- 
quenc.'S were beneficial. They restrained, if they did not destroy, 
the spirit of feudal oppression, and eave birth to order, wise laws, 
and a more tranquil ailministration of government. 

2. The legislative power, though nominally resident in the parlia- 
ment, was virtually in the king, who, by his influence, entirely con- 
troled its proceedings. The parliament consisted of three estates, 
the nobles, the dignified clergy, and the less barons, who were the 
representatives of the towns and shires. The disposal of benefices, 
gave the crown the entire command of the churchmen, who were 
equal to the nobles in number; and at least a majority of the com- 
mons were the dependents of the sovereign. A committee, termed 
tli.i lords of the articles, prepared every measure that was to come 
befyre the parliament. By the mode of its election this committee 
was in effect nominated by the king. It is to the credit of the Scot- 
tish princes, that there are few instances of their abusing an authority 
so extensive as that which they constitutionally enjoyed. 

3. The king had anciently the supreme jurisdiction in all causes, 
civil and criminal, which he generally exercised through the medium 
of his privy council ; but in 1,425 James 1. instituted the court of ses- 
sions, consisting of the chancellor and certain judges chosen from the 
three estates. This court wiis new-modelled by James V., and its 
jurisdiction limited to civil causes, the cognizance of crimes being 
committed to the justiciary. The chancellor was the highest ofiicer 
of the crown, and president of the parliament. To the chamberlain 
belonged the care of the finances and the public police; to the high 
steward the charge of the king's household; the constable regulated 
all matters of military arrangement ; and the marshal was the king's 
lieutenant, and master of the horse. 



160 MODERN HISTORY. 

4, The revenue of the sovereign consisted of his domain, which 
was extensive, of the feudal casualties and forfeitures, the profits of 
the wardships of his va&'als, the rents of vacant benetices, the pecu- 
niary tines lor offences, and the aids or presents occasionally given 
by the subject ; a revenue at all times sufficient for the purposes of 
government, and the support of the dignity of the crown. 

5. The political principles which regulated the conduct of the Scots 
toward other nations were obvious and simple. It had ever been an 
object of ambition to England to acquire the sovereignty of l^cotland, 
which was constantly on its guard against this design of its more potent 
neighbour. It was the wisest policy for Scothmd to attach itself to 
France, the naturiU enemy of England ; an alliance reciprocally court- 
ed from similar motives. In those days tliis attachment was justly 
deemed patriotic; while the Scots, who were the partisans of Eng- 
land, were with equal justice regarded as traitors to tlieir country. 
In the period of ^vhich we now treat, it was a settled policy of the 
jEnglish sovereigns to have a secret faction in their pay in Scotland, 
for the purpose of dividing and thus enslaving the nation; and to this 
source all the subsequent disorders of the latter kingdom ax'e to he 
attributed. 



SECTION XXXIV. 

A VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE 
Ii\ EUROPE, FROM THE REVIVAL OF LETTERS TO I'HE 
KND OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. The first restorers of learning in Europe were the Arabians, 
who, in the course of their Asiatic conquests, becoming acquainted 
with some of the ancient Greek, authors, discovered and justly appre- 
ciated the knowledge and improvement to be derived from them. 
The caliphs procured from the eastern emperors copies of' the an- 
cient maiuiscripls, and had them carefully translated into Arabic ; es- 
teeming principally those which treated of mathematics, physics, and 
metapliyics. They disseminated their knowledge in the course oi 
their et)nque?ts, and founded schools and colleges in all the countries 
which they subdued. 

2. The western kingdoms of Europe became first acquainted with 
the learning of' the ancients Ihrough the medium of those Arabian 
translations. Charlemagne caused Latin translations to be made from 
the Arabian, and founded, Sfter the example of the caliphs, the uni- 
versities of Bononia, Pavia, Osnaburg, and Paris. Alfred wth a simi- 
lar spirit, and by similar means, introduced a taste tor literature in 
England ; but the subsequent disorders of the kingdom rephinged it 
into barbarism. The Normans, however, brought from tlie continent 
some tincture of ancient learning, which was kept alive in the monas- 
teries, where the monks were meritoriously employed in transcrib- 
ing a few of the ancient authors, along with the legendary lives of 
the SiinLs. 

3. In this dawn of literature in England appeared Henry of Hunting- 
ton and GeoflVey of Monmouth, names distinguished in the earliest 
ani) ds of poetry and roniai>ce ; John of Salisbury, a moralist ; VVil- 
liani of Malmesbury, :inralist of the history of England before the 
reign of Stephen j Giraldus Cambrensis, known in the fields of histQ- 



MODERN HISTORY. 161 

ry, theology, and poetry; Joseph of Exeter, author of two Latin epic 
poems on the Trojan war, and the war of Antioch, or the crusade, 
which are read with pleasure even in the present day. 

4. But this era ot a good taste in letters was of short duration. 
The taste for classical composition and historical information yielded 
to the barbarous subtleties of scholastic divinity taught by Lombard 
and Abe lard, and to the abstruse doctrines of the Roman law, which 
began to engage the general attention from the recent discovery of 
the pandects at Amalphi, 1,137. The amusements of the vulgar 
in those periods were metrical and prose romances, unintelligible 
prophecies, and fables of giants and enchanters. 

5. In the middle of the tbirleentli century appeared a distinguish- 
ed genius, Roger Bacon, an English friar, whose comprehensive mind 
was filled with all the stores of ancient learning ; who possessed a 
discriminating judgment to separate the precious ore from the dross, 
and a power of invention titled to advance in every science which was 
the object of bis study. He saw the insufficiency of the school phi- 
losophy, and tirst recommended the prosecution of knowledge by ex- 
periment and. the observation of nature. He made discoveries of 
importance in astronomy, optics, chemistry, medicine, and mechanics^ 
He reformed" the kalendar, discovered tbe constiuction of telescoptc 
glasses forgotten after his time, and revived by Galileo, and has lett a 
plain intimation of his knowledge of the composition of gun-powder. 
Vet this superior genius believed in the possibility of discovering an 
elixir lor the prolongation of life, in the transmutation of metals into 
gold, and injudicial astrology. 

6. A general taste prevailed for poetical composition in the twelfth 
and thirteenth centuries. The troiibadoui-s of Provence wrote sou- 
nets, madrigals, and satirical ballads ; and excelled in extempore dia- 
logues on the subject of love, which they treated in a metaphysiciJ 
and Platonic strain. They contended lor the prize of poetry at sol- 
emn meetings, where princes, nobles, and the most illustrious ladies 
attended to decide between the rival bards; and some of those prin- 
ces, as Richard 1. of England, Frederick 1. emperor of Germany, are 
celebrated as troubadours of eminence. Many fragments yet remain 
of their compositions. 

7. The transference of the papal seat to Avignon, in the fourteenth 
century, familiarized the Italian poets with the songs of the trouba- 
dours, and gave a tincture of the Provencal style to ttieir compo-^ 
sitions', which is very observable in the poetry of Petrarch and of 
Dante. The J}ivina Comedia of Dante first introduced the machine- 
ry of angels anil devils in the room of the pagan n)ytbology, and is a 
work containing nr.iny exam|)lt;s of tlie terrible suiilime. 'l"he fion- 
ne.(s and Canzuni of Petrarch are highly tender and pathetic, though 
vitiated with a quaintness and conceit, which is a prevalent leature 
of the Italian poetry. The Decantewne of Boccacio, a work of the 
same age, is a master-piece for invention, ingenious narrative, and 
acquaintance with human nature. These authors have fixed the 
standard of the Italian language. 

8. Contemporary with them, and of rival merit, was the English 
Chaucer, who displays all the talents of Boccacio, through the me- 
dium of excellent poetry. The works of Chaucer discover an exten- 
sive knowledge of the sciences, an acquaintance both with ancient 
and modern learning, particularly the literature of France and Italy, 
and, above all, a most acute discernment of lite and manners. 

9. Of similar character are the poems of Gower, but of a grafcr 



162 MODERN HISTORY. 

cast, ond a more chastened morality. Equal to these eminent men 
in pv-^ry species of literary merit was the accomplished James I. of 
ScoUrind, of'ivhich his remaining writings bear convincing testimony. 
The doubtful Rowley of Bristol is said to have adorned tne tifteenth 
century. 

10. Spain at this period began to emerge from ignorance and bar- 
barism, anil to produce a few of those works which are enumerated 
with approbition in the whimsical but judicious criticism of Cervan- 
tes. (Don Quixote, b. l,c. 6.) 

11. Though poetry attained in those ages a considerable degree 
of splendour, yet there was little advancement in general literature 
and science. History was disgraced by the intermixture of miracle 
and iable ; yet we lind much curious information in the writings 
of Matthew of Westminster, otWalsingham, Everard, Duyshurg, and 
the Chronicles of Froissart and Monstrelet. Philip de Commines^ 
happily describes the reigns of Lewis XI. and Charles Vlll. of 
France. Villaui and Flatina are valuable recorders of the atiairs of 
Italy. . . 

12.' A taste for classical learning in the tifteenth century led to the 
discovery of many of the ancient authors. Foggio discovered the 
writings of Quintilian and several of the compositions of Cicero, 
which stimulateil to farther research, and to the recovery of many 
valuable remain* of Greek and Roman literature. But this taste was 
not generally dirt'used. France and England were extremely barba- 
rotis. The library at Oxford contained only GOO volumes, and there 
were but four classics in the royA library at Paris. But a brighter 
period was approaching. On the iaU of the eastern empire, in the 
end of the fitteenth century, the dispersion of the Greeks diflused a 
taslo tor polite literature over all the west of Europe. A succession 
of popes, endowed with a liberal and enlightened spirit, gave every 
encouragement to learning and the sciences ; and, above all, the 
noble discovery of the art of printing contributed to their rapid ad- 
vancement and dissemination, and gave a certain assurance of the 
perpetuation of every valuable art, and the progressive improvement 
of human knowledge. 

13. The rise of dramatic composition among the moderns is to be 
traced to the absurd and ludicrous represen.Uition, in the churches, 
of the scripture histories, called in England mysteries, miracles, and 
moralities. These were first exhibited in tire twelllh century, and 
continuetfto the sixteenth, when they were prohibited by law in 
England. Of these we have amusing specimens in Warton's His- 
tory of English Poetry. Profane dramas were substituted in their 
{ilace ; and a mixture of the sacred and protane appeal's to have 
jec-n known in France as early as 1,300. In Spain the farcical mys- 
teries keep their ground to the present day, and no regular compo- 
sition for the stage was known till the end of the sixteenth century. 
The Italians are allowed by their own writers to have borrowed 
their theatre from the French and English. 

See Kett's Elements of General Knowledge, vol. I. 



MODERN HISTORY. 163 



SECTION XXXV. 

VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF COMMERCE IN EUROPE BEFORE 
THE PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES. 

1 . Before we give an account of the discoveries of the Portu- 
guese in the fifteenth century, in exploring a new route to India, we 
shall present a short view of the progress of commerce in Europe 
down to that period. 

The boldest naval enterprise of the ancients was the Periplus of 
Hanno, who sailed from Carthage to the coast of Guinea, within 
four or five degrees of the equator, A. C. 570. The ancients did 
not know that Africa was almost circumnavigable. They had a very 
limited knowledge of the habitable earth. They believed that both 
the torrid and frigid zones were uninhabitable; and they were very 
imperfectly acquainted with a great part of Europe, Asia, and Af- 
rica. Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, Poland, and the greater part of 
Russia, were unknown to them. In Ptolemy's description of the 
globe, the 63d degree of latitude is the limit of the earth to the 
north, and the equator to the south. 

2. Britain was circumnavigated in the time of Domitian. The 
Romans frequented it for the purposes of commerce ; and Tacitus 
mentions London as a celebrated resort of merchants. The com- 
merce of the ancients was, however, chiefly confined o the Mediter- 
ranean. In the riourishing periods of the eastern empire the mer- 
chandi«!e of India was, imported tVom Alexandria ; but, after the con- 
quest of Egypt by the Arabians, it was carried up the Indus, and 
thence by land to the Oxus, which then ran directly into the Caspian 
sea; thence it was brought up the VV'olga, and again carried over land 
to the Don, whence it descended into the Euxine. 

3. After the fall of the western empire commerce was long at a 
stand in Europe. When Attila was ravaging Italy the \ eneti took 
refuge in the small islands at the northern extremity of the .Xdrjatic, 
and there t'ounded Venice, A. D. 452, which began very early to 
equip small tieets, and trade to the coasts of Egypt and the Levant, 
for spices and other merchandise of Arabia and India. Genoa, F'lor- 
ence, and Pi'iii, imitated this example, and began to acquire consider- 
able wealth ; l)ut Venice retained her superiority over these rival 
states, and gained considerable territory on the opposite coast of lUyr- 
icum and Da I ma I ia. 

4. The maritime cities of Italy profited by the crusades, in furnish- 
ing the armies with supplies, and liringing home the proiluce of the 
east. The Italian meixhants established manutactures similar to 
those of Constantinople. Hogero king of Sicily brought artisans 
from Athens, and established a silk manufacture at Palermo in 1,130. 
The sugar cane was planted in Sicily in the tweltth century, and 
thence carried to Madeira, and finally made its way to the West 
Indies. 

i 5. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Italians were the 
I only commercial people of Europe. Venice set the first example 
; of a national bank in 1,157, which has maintained its credit to the 
i*present times. The only trade of France, Spain, and Germany, at 
t this time, was carried on at stated fairs and market*, to which traders 
I resorted Irooi all quarters, paying a tax to the sovereigns or the lords 



164 MODERN HISTORY. | 

of the territory. The more enterprising bought a privilege of ex-i 
emption, by paying at once a large sum, and were thence called free 
tTCtdcrSm ' *"* 

6. In the middle ages the Italian merchants, usually called Lom- 
bards, were the factors of all the European nations, and were en- 
ticed, by privileges granted by the sovereigns, to settle in France, 
Spain, Germany, and England. They were not only traders in com- 
modities, but bankers, or money dealers. In this last business they 
found a severe restraint from the canon law prohibiting the taking 
of interest; and hence, from the necessary privxicy of their bargains, 
there were no bounds to exorbitant usury. The Jews, too, who 
were the chief dealers in money, brought disrepute on the trade of 
banking, and frequently suffered, on that account, the most intoler-i 
able persecution and confiscation of their fortunes. To guard againstj 
these injuries they invented 6i//s o/" fxc/tmi^e. 

7. The Lombard merchants excited a spirit of commerce, and' 
gave birth to manufactures, which were generally encouraged by 
the sovereigns in the different kingdoms of Europe. Among the 
chief encouragements was the institution of corporations or monop- 
olies, the earliest of which are traced up to the eleventh century ; 
a policy beneficial, and perhaps necessary, where the spirit of indus- 
try is low, and manufactures are in their infancy ; but of hurtful con- 
sequence where trade and manufactures are nourishing. 

8. Commerce began to spread toward the north of Europe about 
the end of the twelfth century. The sea-ports on the Baltic traded 
with France i:»id Britain, and ivith the Mediterranean by the staple 
of the isle of Oleron, near the mouth of the Garonne, then possessed 
by the I'.nglish. The commercial laws of Oleron and Wisbuy (on 
the Baltic) regulated for many ages the trade of Europe. To pro- 
tect their trade from piracy, Lubec, Hamburgh, and most of the north- 
ern sea-ports, joined in a confederacy, under certain general regula- 
tions, termed the league of the kansc-t(m'ns ; a union so beneficial in 
its nature, and so formidable in point of strength, that its alliance was 
courted by the predominant powers of Europe. 

9. For the trade of the hanse-towns with the southern kingdoms, 
Bruges, on the coast of Flanders, was found a convenient entrepot, 
and thither the Mediterranean merchants brought the commodities 
of India and the Levant to exchange with the produce and manufac- 
ture* of the north. The Flemings now began to encourage trade 
and manufactures, which thence spread to the Brabantei-s : but their 
growth being checked by the impohtic sovereigns of those prov- 
inces, tliey found a more favourable field in England, which was des- 
tined to derive from them the great source of its national opulence. 

10. The Britons had very early seen the importance of commerce, 
Bede relates that London was frequented by foreigners for the pur- 
pose of trade in 614; and William of Malmesbury speaks of it, in 
1,041, as a most populous and wealthy city. The cinque ports. 
Dover, Hastings, Hy the, Romney, and Sandwich, obtained in that age 
their privileges and immunities, on condition of furnishing each fi\i 
ships of war. These ports are now eight in number, and send theu 
members to parliament. 

11. The woollen manufacture of England was considerable in the 
twelfth century. Henry II. incorporated the weavers of London, 
and gave them various privileges. By a law passed in his reign, ab 
cloth made of foreign wool was condemned to be burnt. Scotland 
at this time seems to have possessed a considerable source of wealth. 



MODERN HISTORY. leS 

as is evident from the payment of the ransom of WiUiam the lion, 
which was 10^000 merks, equal to 100,0001. sterling of present 
money. The English found it difficult to raise double that sum for the 
ransom of Richard I., and the Scots contributed a proportion of it. 
The English sovereigns at lirst drew a considerable revenue from 
the custom on wool exported to be manufactured abroad ; but becom- 
ing soon sensible of the benefit of encouraging its home manufacture, 
they invited, for that purpose, the foreign artisans and merchants to 
reside in England, and gave them valuable immunities. Edward III. 
was peculiarly attentive to trade and manufactures, as appears by the 
laws passed in his reign ; and he was bountiful in the encouragement 
of foreign artisans. The succeeding reigns were not so favourable. 
During the civil wars of York and Lancaster the spirit of trade and 
manufactures greatly declinexl ; nor did they begin to revive and 
flourish till the accession of Henry V'll. In that interval of their de- 
cay in England commerce and the arts were encouraged in Scotland 
by James I. and his successors, as much as the comparatively rude 
and turbulent state of the kingdom would permit. The herring fish- 
ery then began to be vigorously promoted ; and the duties laid on 
the exportation of woollen cloth show that this manufacture was then 
considerable among the Scots. Glasgow began to acquire wealth 
by the fisheries in 1,420, but had little or no foreign trade tiir after 
the discovery of America and the West Indies. 

12. Henry VII. gave the most liberal encouragement to trade and 
manufactures, particularly the woollen, by inviting foreign artisans, 
and establishing them at Leeds, Wakefield, Halifax, and other places. 
The navigation acts were passed in his rei^n, and commercial treaties 
formed with the continental kingdoms for the protection of the 
merchant-shipping. Such was the state of commerce at the time 
when the Portuguese made those great discoveries which open- 
ed a new route to India^ and gave a circulation to their wealth over 
most of the nations of Europe. 



SECTION XXXVT. 

'discoveries of the PORTUGUESE IN THE FIFTEENTH 
CENTURY, AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE COMMERCE OF 
EUROPE. 

1. The polarity of the magnet had been known in Europe as 
eariy asthe thirte nth century; but the compass was not used in 
sailing till the middle of the fourteenth; and another century had 
elapsed from liiat period, while yet the European mariners scarcely 
! ventured out of the sight of their coasts. The eastern ocean was 
j' little known; and the Atlantic wiis supposed to be a boundless ex- 
' panse of sea, extending probably to the eastern shores of Asia. In 
the belief that the torrid zone was uninhabitable, a promontory on 
I the African coast, in the 29th degree of north latitude, was termed 
Capo Non, as forming an impassable limit. 

I 2. In the beginning of the fifteenth century John king of Por- 
l tugal sent a few vessels to explore the African coast; and these 
I doubling Cape Non proceeded to (^ape Boyador, within two de- 
fgreos of the northern tropic. Prince Henry, the son of John, equip- 
iped a single ship, which, being driven out to sea, landed on the island 



166 MODERN HISTORY. 

of Porto Santo. This involuntary experiment emboldened the 
mariners to abandon their timid mode of coasting, and launch into the 
open sea. In 1,420 the Portuguese discovered Madeira, where they 
established a colony, and planted the Cyprus vine, and the sugar cane. 

3. The spirit of enterprise being thus awakened, prince Henry 
obtained from Eugene IV. a bull granting to the Portuguese the 
property of all the countries Avhich they might discover between 
Cape Non and India. Under John II. of Portugal the Cape Verd 
islands were discovered and colonized; and the lleets, advancing to 
the coast of Guinea, brought home gold dust, gums, and ivory. Hav- 
ing passed the equator, the Portuguese entered a new hemisphere, 
and boldly proceeded to the extremity of the continent. In 1,479 a 
fleet under Vasco de Gamai doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and, 
sailing onwards beyond the mouths of the Arabian and Persian gulfs, 
arrived at Calicut, on the Malabar coast, after a voyage of 1,500 
leagues, performed in thirteen months. 

4. De Gama entered into an alliance with the rajah of Calicut, a 
tributary of the Mogul empire, and returned to Lisbon with speci- 
mens of the wealth and produce of the country. A succeeding fleet 
formed settlements, and, vanquishing the opposition of the native 
princes, soon achieved the conquest of all the coast of Malabar. 
The city of Goa, taken by storm, became the residence of a Portu- 
guese viceroy and the capital of their Indian settlements. 

5. The Venetians, who had hitherto engrossed the Indian trade 
by Alexandria, now lost it for ever. After an ineffectual project of 
cutting through the isthmus of Suez, they attempted to intercept the 
Portuguese by their fleets stationed at the mouth of the Red sea and 
Persian gulf, but were every where encountered by a superior 
force. The Portuguese made settlements in both the gulfs, and 
vigorously prosecuted their conquests on the Indian coast and sea. 
The rich island of Ceylon, the kingdoms of Pegu, Siam. and Malac- 
ca, were speedily subdued, and a settlement establishea in Bengal. 
They proceeded onward to China, hitherto scarcely known to the Eu- 
ropeans but by the account of a single Venetian traveller, Marco Paolo, 
in the thirteenth century; and they obtained the emperor's permis- 
sion to Ibrm a settlement at Macao, thus opening a commerce with 
that immense empire, and the neighbouring islands of Japan. In the 
space of fifty years the Portuguese were masters of the whole trade 
of ihe Indian ocean, and sovereigns of a large extent of Asiatic 
territory. 

6. These discoveries produced a wonderful effect on the com- 
merce of Europe. The produce of the spice islands was computed 
to be worth annually 200,000 ducats to Lisbon. T'he VenetianSj 
after every effort to destroy the trade of the Portuguese, offered to 
become sole purchasers of all the sjice Li ought to Europe, but were 
reii',.?rd. Commercial industry was roused in every quarter, and 
manufactures made a rapid progress. Lyons, Tours, Abbeville, Mar- 
seilles, Bordeaux, acquired immense wealth. Antwerp and Amster- 
dam became the great marts of the north. The former owed its 
splendour to the dechne of Bruges, which was ruined by civil com- 
motions ; and the Portuguese made Antwerp their entrepot for the 
SUV n'y of the northern kingdoms. It continued highly tiourishing 
till lij'e revolt of the Netherlands, in the end of the sixteenth century, 
whea it was taken by the Spaniards, and its port destroyed ly blocks 
ing up the Scheld. 

7. The trade of Holland rose on the fall of Antwerp. Amsterdam 



MODERN HISTORY. 16-7 

became considerable after the decline of the hanseatic confederacy 
in 1,428, but rose inlo splendour and high commercial opulence from 
the destruction of Antwerp. The United Provinces, dependent on 
industry alone for their support, became a model of commercial ac- 
tivity to all nations. 

8. Britain felt the effect of that general stimulus which the Por- 
tuguese discoveries gave to the trade of Europe; but other causes 
had a more sensible operation to that end in England. The reforma- 
tion, by suppressing the convents, and restoring many thousands to 
society, and the cutting oif the papal exactions, which drained the 
kingdom of its wealth, the politic laws passed in the reign of Henry 
VllL, and the active patriotism of Elizabeth, were vigorous incentives 
to national industry. 

9. From the time of Henry VIII. to the present, the commerce 
and manufactures of England have been unitbrmly progressive. 
The rental of England in lands and houses did not then exceed live 
millions /)er mimnn ; it is now above eighteen millions. The unman- 
ufactured wool of one year's growth is supposed to be worth two 
millions ; when manufactured, as it now is, by British hands, it is 
worth eight millions. Above a million and a hah' of hands are em- 
ployed in that manufacture alone ; half a million are employed in 
the manufactures of iron, steel, copper, brass, lead ; the linen man- 
ufactures of England, Scotland, and Ireland, occupy nearly a million j 
and a number not much inferior is employed in the fisheries. It is 
presumable, on the whole, that nearly a fourth of the population of the 
united kingdoms is actually employed in commerce and manufactures. 

10. The vast increase of the national wealth of Britain appears 
chiefly, 1, from the increase of population, which is supposed to 
be nearly live to one (at least in the large cities) since the reign 
of Elizabeth ; '2, from the great addition made to the cultivated 
lands of the kingdom, and the high improvement of agriculture 
since that period, whence more than quadruple the quantity of food 
is produced; 3, from the increase of the commercial shipping, at 
least sixfold within the same time ; 4, from the comparative low rate 
of interest, which is demonstrative of the increase of wealth. The 
consequences of the diffusion of the commercial spirit are most im- 
portant to the national welfare. From general industry arises afflu- 
ence, joined to a spirit of independence ; and on this spirit rests the 
freeuom of the British constitution, and all the blessings vvliich are 
enjoyed under its protection. 



SECTION XXXVII. 

GERMANY AND FRANCE IN THE REIGNS OF CHARLES V. 
AND FRANCIS I. 

1. We resume the detail of the history of Europe at the beginning 
of the sixteenth century, previously remarking, that the Germanic 
empire continued for above fifty years in a state of languid tranquilli- 
ty, from the time of Albert II., the successor of Sigismund, during the 
long reign of Frederick III., whose son Maximilian acquired, by his 
marriage with Mary, duchess of Burgundy, the sovereignty of the 
Netherlands. Maximilian was elected Emperor in 1 ,493 ; and, by 
establishing a perpetual peace between the separate Germanic states, 
laid the foundation of the subsequent grandeur of the empire. 



168 MODERN HISTORY. 

2. Philip archduke of Austria, son of Maximilian, married Jane, the 
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella; and of that marriage the eldest 
son was Charles V., who succeeded to the throne of Spain in 1,516, 
and, on the death of his grandfather Maximilian, preferred his claim 
to the vacant imperial throne. He had for his competitor Francis I. 
of France, who had distinguished himself by the conquest of the Mil- 
anese, and the adjustment of the contending interests of the Italian 
states. The German electors, afraid of the exorbitant power both of 
Charles and of Francis, would have rejected both, and conferred the 
imperial crown on Frederick duke of Saxony ; but this extraordinary 
man declined the protfered dignity, and his council determined the 
election in favour of Charles ot Austria, 1,519. 

3. Charles V. and Francis I. were now declared enemies, and their 
mutual claims on each other's dominions were the subject of perpet- 
ual hostility. The emperor claimed Artois as part of the Nether- 
lands. Francis prepared to make good his right to the Two Sicilies. 
Charles had to defend Milan, and to support his title to Navarre, 
which had been wrested from France by his grandfather Ferdinand. 
Henry VIII. of England was courted by the rival monarchs, as the 
weight of England was sufficient to turn the scale, where the power 
of each was nearly balanced. 

4. The first hostile attack was made by Francis on the kingdom of 
Navarre, which he won and lost in the course of a few months. The 
emperor attacked Picardy, and his troops at the same time drove the 
French out of the Milanese. On the death of Leo X., Charles placed 
cardinal Adrian on the papal throne, 1,521 ; and by the promise of 
elevating Wolsey, the minister of Henry VIII., to that dignity, on the 
death of Adrian, gained the alliance of the English monarch in his war 
against France. 

5. At this critical time Francis imprudently quarrelled with his 
best general, the constable of Bourbon, who, in revenge, deserted 
the emperor, and was by him invested with the chief command of his 
armies. The imperial generals were far superior inabilities to their 
opponents. The French were defeated at Biagrassa, and Charles 
was carrying every thing before him in Italy, when Francis entered 
the Milanese, and retook the capital ; but, in the subsequent battle of 
Pavia, his troops were entirely defeated, and the French monarch 
became the constable of Bourbon's prisoner, 1,526. 

6. The emperor made no advantage of his good fortune. By the 
treaty of Madrid, Francis regained his liberty, on yielding to Charles 
the duchy of Burgundy, and the superiority of Flanders and Artois. 
He gave his two sons as hostages for the fulfilment of these conditions ; 
but the states refused to ratify them, and the failure was compromised 
for a sum of money. 

7. On the renewal of the war, Henry VIII. took part with France, 
and Charles lost an opportunity of obtaining the sovereignty of Italy. 
The papal army in the French interest was defeated by the consta- 
ble of Bourbon, and the pope himself made prisoner ; but Bourbon 
was killed in the siege of Rome, and Charles allowed the pope to 
purchase his release. 

8. After the conclusion of the peace of Cambray, 1,529, Charles 
visited Italy, and received t'le imperial diadem from pope Clement 
VII. The Turks having invaded Hungary, the emperor marched 
against them in person, and compelled the sultan Solyman, wiih an 
army of 300,000 men, to evacuate the country. He soon after em- 
barked for Africa, to replace the dethroned Muley Hassan in the 



MODERN HISTORY. 169 

sovereignty of Tunis and Algiers, which had been usurped by Hay- 
radin Barbarossa ; and he achieved the enterprise with honour. Hi3 
reputation at this period exceeded that of all the sovereigns of Eu- 
rope, for political abihty, real power, and the extent and opulence of 
his dominions. 

9. Francis was glad to ally himself even with the Turks to cope 
with the imperialists, and Barbarossa invaded Italy ; but the troops of 
Charles prevented the co-operation of the French, and separately 
defeated and dispersed the allied powers, while another army of the 
imperialists ravaged Champagne and Picardy. 

10. In the interval of a truce, which was concluded at Nice, for 
ten years between the rival monarchs, Charles passed through 
France to the Netherlands, and was entertained by Francis with the 
most magnificent iiospilality. He had promised to grant to the French 
king his favourite desire, the investiture of Milan ; but failing to keep 
his word, the war was renewed with double animosity. The French 
and Turkish fleets attacked Nice, but were dispersed by the Ge- 
noese admiral, Andrea Doria. In Italy the French were victori- 
ous in the battle of Cerizoies, but drew no benefit from this partial 
advantage. The imperialists, on the whole, had a decided superior- 
ity, and France must have been undone, if the disorders of Germany, 
from the contending interests of the catholics and protestants, had 
not forced the emperor to conclude the treaty of Crepi with Francis, 
1,544. At the same time Francis purchased a peace with Henry 
V HI., who had again taken part with his rival. Francis died soon 
after, in 1,547; a prince of great spirit and abilities, and of a gener- 
ous and noble mind, unfortunate only from the necessity of strug- 
gling against a power which overmatched him both in policy and 
in resources. 

1 1. A short time before this period, was founded the order of the 
Jesuits by Ignatius Loyola, 1,635. The principle of the order was 
implicit obedience and submission to the pope. The brethren were 
not confined to their cloisters, but allowed to mix with the world ; 
and thus, by gaining the confidence of princes and statesmen, they 
were enabled to direct the policy of nations to the great end of estab- 
lishing the supreme authority of the holy see The wealth which 
they accumulated, the extent of their power, and the supposed con- 
sequences of their intrigues to the peace of nations, excited at length 
a general hostility to their order ; and the institution has recently 
been abolished in all the kingdoms of Europe. 

12. If Charles V. aimed at universal empire, he was ever at a dis- 
tance from the object of his wishes. The formidable confederacy of 
the protestants to preserve their liberties and their religion, gave 
him perpetual disqiiiet in Germany. He never could form his do- 
minions into a well connected body, from the separate national inter- 
ests of the Spaniards, Flemish, and Germans ; and even the imperial 
states were divided by their jealousies, political and religious. The 
hostilities of foreign powers gave him continual annoyance. He found 
in Henry II., the successor of Francis, an antagonist as formidable as 
his father. His cares and difficulties increased as he advanced in life, 
and at length entirely broke the vigour of his mind. In a state of 
melancholy despondency he retired trom the world at the age of fifty- 
six, resigning first the kingdom of Spain to his son Philip II., 1,556, 
ami (fterwards the imperial crown in favour of his brother Ferdinand, 
>vho was elected emperor on the 24th day of February, 1,558. 

P 22 



170 MODERN HISTORY. 



SECTION XXXVIII. 

©BSERVATIONS ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE GERMAN 

EMPIRE. 

1. Previously to the reign of Maximilian I., the Germanic empire 
was subject to all the disorders of the feudal governments. The 
general diets of the state were tumultuous and indecisive, and their 
constant wars with one another kept the whole in anarchy and bar- 
barism. Wenceslaus, in 1,383, endeavoured to remedy tnose evils 
by the enactment of a general peace ; but no effectual measures 
were taken for securing it. Albert II. attempted to accomplish 
the same end, and had some success. He divided Germany into six 
circles, each regulated by its own diet ; but the jealousies of the states 
prompted them constantly to hostilities, which there was no superior 
power suthcient to restrain. 

2. At length Maximilian I. procured, in 1,500, that solemn enact- 
ment which established a perpetual peace among the Germanic 
states, under the cogent penalty of the aggressor being treated as a 
common enemy. He established the imperial chamber for the settle- 
ment of all differences. The empire was divided anew into ten cir- 
cles, each circle sending its representatives to tlie imperial chamber, 
and bound to enibrce the public laws through its own territory. A 
regency was appointed to subsist in the intervals of the diet, composed 
of twenty members, over whom the emperor presided. 

3. These regulations, however wise, would probably have failed 
of their end, if the influence of the house of Austria, which has for 
three centuries continued to occupy the imperial throne, had not 
enforced obedience to them. The ambition and policy of Charles 
V. would have been dangerous to the freedom of the German prin- 
ces, if the new system ot preserving a balance of power in Europe 
had not made these princes find allies and protectors sufficient to 
traverse the emperor^s schemes of absolute dominion. He attained, 
however, an authority far beyond that of any of his predecessors. 
The succeeding emperors imitated his policy ; but, as they did not 
possess equal talents, they found yet stronger obstacles to their en- 
croachments on the freedom of the states. 

4. The Germanic liberties were settled for the last lime by the 
■treaty of Westphalia, in 1,648, which fixed the emperors j)reroga- 
tives, and the privileges of the states. The constitution ot the em- 
pire is not framed for the ordinary ends of government, the prosper- 
ity and happiness of the people. It regards not the rights of the 
subjects, but only the independence of the several princes ; and lis 
sole object is to maintain each in the enjoyment of his sovereignty, 
and prevent usurpations and encroachments on one another's terri- 
tories. It has no relation to the particular government of the states, 
each of which has its own laws and constitution, some more free, and 
others more despotic. 

5. The general diet has the power of enacting the public laws of 
the empire. It consists of three colleges, the electors, the princes, 
and the free cities. All such public laws, and all general measures, 
are the subject of the separate deliberation of the electoral college 
gild that of the princes. When jointly approved by them, the resoiu'^ 



MODERN HISTORY. 171 

tion is canvassed by the college of the free cities, and, if agreed to, 
becomes a placitum of the empire. If approved iinally by the em- 
peror, it is a conclmum^ or general law. If disapproved, the resolu- 
tion is of no effect. Moreover, the emperor must be the proposer of 
all general laws. Still farther, no complaint or request can be made 
by any of the princes to the diet without the approbation of the 
elector archbishop of Mentz, who may refuse it at his pleasure. 
These constitutional defects are the more hurtful in their conse- 
quences, from the separate and often contending interests of the prin- 
ces, who have all the rights of sovereignty, the power of contracting 
foreign alliances, and are fi'equently possessed of foreign dominions 
of far greater value than their imperial territories. 

6. The Germanic constitution has, however, in some respects, its 
advantages. The particular diets of each circle tend to unite those 
princes in all matters of national concern, whatever may be the dis- 
cordance of their individual interests. The regulations made in 
those diets compensate the want of a general legislative power. Be- 
side the circular diets, the electors, the princes, the free cities, the 
catholics, and the protestants, hold their particular diets, when their 
common interests require it ; and these powers balance one another. 
Considered, therefore, solely in the light of a league of several inde- 
pendent princes and states, associating for their common benelit, the 
Germanic constitution has many advantages; in promoting general 
harmony, securing the rights of its members, and preventing the 
weak from being oppressed by the strong. 



SECTION XXXIX. 

OF THE REFORMATION IN GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND, 
AND THE REVOLUTION IN DENMARK AND SWEDEN. 

1 . The age of Charles V. is the era of the reformation of reli- 
gion, of the discovery of the new world, and of the highest splen- 
dour of the fine arts in Italy and the south of Europe. We shall 
treat in order of each of these great objects ; and, tirst, of the refor- 
mation. 

The voluptuous taste and the splendid projects of pope Leo X. 
demanding large supplies of money, he instituted through all the 
christian kingdoms a sale of indulgences, or remittances from the 
pains of purgatory. This traffic being abused to the most shocking 
purposes, Martin Luther, an Augustine friar, ventured to preach 
against it, and to inveigh with acrimony against the power which 
authorized it. He found many willing hearers, particularly in the 
electorate of Saxony, of which the prince Frederick was his friend 
and protector. Leo X. condemned his tenets by a papal bull, which 
only increased the zeal and indignation of the preacher. In a book 
which he published, entitled the Babylonish Captivity^ he applied 
all the scriptural attributes of the whore of Babylon to the papal 
hierarchy, and attacked with equal force and virulence the doctrines 
of transubstantiation, purgatory, the celibacy of the priests, and the 
refusal of wine to the people in the communion. The book being 
condemned to the flames, Luther burned the pope's bull and the 
decretals at Wittemberg, 1,520. 

2, One of the first champions, who took up the pen against Lxir 



172 MODERJN HISTORY. 

ther, was Henry VIII. of England ; whose book, presented to pope 
Leo, procured him the title now annexed to his crown, of defender of 
the faith. The rest of Europe seemed to pay little attention to 
these rising controversies. Charles V., studious of the friendship of 
the pope, took part against Luther, and summoned him to answer 
for his doctrines in the diet of Worms. The reformer defended 
himself with great spirit, and, aided by his friend the elector, made 
a safe escape into Saxony, where the mass was now universally 
abolished, the images destroyed, and the convents shut up. The 
Iriars and nuns returned to the world, and Luther took a nun for his 
wife. Nor did these secularized priests abuse their new freedom, 
for their manners were decent, and their life exemplary. 

3. Erasmus has justly censured the impolicy of the catholic clergy 
in their modes of resisting and suppressing the new doctrines. They 
allowed them to be discussed in sermons before the people, and em- 
ployed for that purpose furious and bigoted declaimers, who Only 
increased and widened differences. They would not yield in the 
most insignificant trifle, nor acknowledge a single fault ; and they 
persecuted with the utmost cruelty all whose opinions were not 
agreeable to their own standard of faith. How wise is the counsel of 
lord Bacon ! '•' There is no better way to stop the rise of new sects 
and schisms, than to reform abuses, compound the lesser differences, 
proceed mildly from the first, refrain from sanguinary persecutions, 
and rather to soften and win the principal leaders, by gracing and 
advancing them, than to enrage them by violence and bitterness." 
J^ac. Mor. Ess. Sect. I. Ess. 12. 

4. Switzerland followed in the path of reformation. Zuinglius of 
Zurich preached the new tenets with such zeal and effect, that the 
whole canton was converted, and the senate publicly abolished the 
mass, and purified the churches. Berne took the same measures 
with greater solemnity, after a discussion in the senate which lasted 
two months. Basle imitated the same example. Other cantons 
armed in defence of their faith ; and in a desperate engagement, in 
which the protestants were defeated, Zuinglius was slain, 1,53L 

5. Lutheranism was now making its progress towards the north 
of Europe. Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, were at this time gov- 
erned by Christiern II., the Nero of the north. The Swedes, re- 
luctantly submitting to the yoke, were kept in awe by Troll, arch- 
bishop of Upsal, a faithful minister of the tyrant in all his schemes 
of oppression and cruelty. On intelUgence of a revolt, the king 
and his primate, armed with a bull from pope Leo X., massacred 
the whole body of the nobles and senators, amidst the festivity of a 
"banquet. Gustavus Vasa, grand nephew of Charles Canutson, 
formerly king of Sweden, escaped from this carnage, and concealed 
himself in the mines of Dalecarlia. By degrees assembling a small 
army, he defeated the generals of Christiern, whose cruelties at 
length determined the united nations to vindicate their rights, by a 
solemn sentence of deposition. The tyrant fled to Flanders, and 
Frederick duke of Holstein was elected sovereign of the three 
kingdoms ; but Sweden, adhering to her heroic deliverer, and the 
heir of her ancient kings, acknowledged alone the sovereignty of 
Gustavus Vasa, 1,521. The bull of Leo X., and its bloody conse- 
quences, were sufficient to convert Sweden and Denmark to the 
tenets of the reformed religion. Gustavus enjoyed his sceptre many 
years in pt'ace, and contributed greatly to the happiness and pros- 
perity of his kingdom. 



MODERN HISTORY. 173 

6. As early as 1,525, the states of Saxdhy, Brunswick, Hesse Cas- 
sel, and the cities of Strasburgh and Frankfort, had embraced the 
doctrines of the reformation. Luther had now a species of spiritual 
control, which he exercised by means of a synod of six reformers. 
His successful example gave rise to reformers of different kinds, 
whose doctrines were less consonant to reason or good policy. Two 
fanatics of Saxony, Storck and Muncer, condemned infant baptism, 
and therefore were termed anabaptists. They preached universal 
equality and freedom of religious opinion, but, with singular inconsis- 
tency, attempted to propagate their doctrines by the sword. They 
were defeated at IVIulhausen, and Muncer died on a scaffold ; but the 
party seemed to acquire new courage. They surprised Munster,^' 
expelled the bishop^ and anointed for their king a tailor named Jack 
of Xeyden, who defended the city with the most desperate courage, 
but fell at length, with his party under the superior force of regular 
troops. The anabaptists, thus sanguinary in their original tenets 
and practices, have long ago become peaceable and harmless suIh 
jects. .,- 

7. The united power of the pope and emperor found it impossi- 
ble to check the progress of tlie reformation. The diet of Spires 
proposed articles of accommodation between the Lutherans and 
catholics. Fourteen cities of Germany, and several of the electors, 
protested formally against those articles; and hence the Lutheran 
party acquired the name of protestants. They presented to the 
assembly at Augsburg a confession of their faith, which is the stand- 
ard of the protestant doctrines. 

8. The virtuous lives and conduct of the protestant leaders, com- 
pared with those of the higher clergy among the catholics, formed 
a contrast very favourable to the progress oi the reformation. The 
solemn manner in which the states of Switzerland, and particularly 
Geneva, had proceeded, in calmly discussing every point of contro- 
versy, and yielding only to the force of rational conviction, attracted 
the respect of all Europe. John Calvin, a Frenchman, becoming a 
zealous convert to the new doctrines, was the first who gave them a 
systematic form by his Institutions^ and enforced their authority by 
the establishment of synods, consistories, and deacons. The magis- 
tracy of Geneva gave these ordinances the authority of law ; and 
they were adopted by six of the Swiss cantons, by the protestants ot 
Frapxe, and the presbyterians of Scotland and England. The ablest 
advocates of Calvin will find it diificult to vindicate him from the 
charge of intolerance and the spirit of persecution ; but these, which 
are vices or defects of the individual, attacii not in the least to the 
docti'ines of the reformation, which are subject to the test of reasoUj 
and can derive no blemish or dishonour from the men who propagat-. 
ed them, or even from the motives which might influence some of 
their earliest supporters. This observation applies more particularly 
to the subject of the ensuing section. 

See Ketl's Elements of General Knowledge, Vol. I. 
F2 



174 MODERN HISTORY. 



SECTION XL. 

GF THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND UNDER HENRY VIH., 
AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 

1. WicKLiFF, in the middle of the fourteenth century, hy an at- 
tack on the doctrines of transubstantiation, indulgence*, and amicuhir 
confession, and still more by a translation of the sciipturos nito the 
vernacular tongue, had prepared the minds of the i)eople ot England 
tor a revoiuliou in rehsious opinions; hut his professed ioliovvers 
were not numerous. The intemi)erate passions of Henry VIM. wore 
the immediate cause of the reformation in Enghuid. Ho had been 
jnurripd eighteen years to Catharine of Spain, aunt of Charles V., 
by whom he had tlu-ee children, one of them, Mary, afterwards queen 
of England; when, falling in love with Anna Lullen, he solicited 
Clement VII. for a divor<-,e from Catharine, on the score of her for- 
mer marriaije to his elder brother Arthur. The pope found himself 
in the painful dilemma of cither ath-onling the emperor, or mortally 
otfending the king of England. In hope that the King's passion 
mig'it cool, he protracted the time by preliminaries and negotiatiuns, 
but to no purpose. Henry was resolutely bent on accomplishing 
his wishes. '^I'he Sorbonne and other French universiiies gave an 
opinion in his favour. Armed with this sanction, he caused Crannior 
archbishop of Canterbury to annul his mai'riage. The repudiated 
queen gave place to Anna BuUen. On this occasion Wolsey, the 
minister of Henry, lost t!ie fovour of his master, by opposing, as 
was believed, his darling measure. 

2. Clement VII., from this specimen of the wayward temper of 
}Ienry, resolved to keep well with the emperor, and issued his hull, 
condemnatory of the sentence of the archbishop of Canterbury. 
Henry immediately proclaimed himself head of the church of Eng- 
land ; the padi.unent ratified his title, and the pope's authority wa.s 
instantly suppressed in all his dominions, 1,531. He proceeded to 
abolish the monasteries, and confiscate their treasures and revenues, 
electing out of the latter six new bishoprics and a college. The 
immor.iiities of the monks were sedulously exposed, the forgery of 
relics, false miracles, c^c. held up to the popular scorn. 

o. \et Henry, though a reformer, and pope in h\< own kingdom, 
had not renounced the religion of Rome: he was equally an enemy 
to the tenets of Luther and Calvin as to the pope's jurisdiction in 
England. Inconstant in his alTeciions, and a stranger to all humanilv, 
he removed Anna Bulicn from the throne to tlie scaffold, to gratilv"a 
new passion for Jane Seymour, a maid of honour, who happily died 
about a year after. To her succeeded Anne of Cteves, whom he 
divorced in nine months, to make way for Catharine Howard. She 
underwent the same late whh Anna Bullen, on a similar suspicion of 
mhdehty to his bed. His sixth wife. Catharine Ran-, with dilhcifl^ 
retained her hazardous elevation, but had the good fortune to sur- 
vive the tyrant. 

f • ^" ,1'*^ ^^=*^h of Henry VIII., 1,547, and the accession of his son 
Edward VI., the protestant religion prevailed in England, and was 
tavoured by the sovereign ; hut he died at the early age of (ifteen, 
iybo3; and the sceptre passed to the hands of liis sister Mary, au iin- 



MODERN HISTORY. 175 

tolerant catholic, and most crael persecutor of the protestants. Id 
her rv'ign, which was of tive years' duration, above J50U miserable 
yictims were burnt at a stake, martyrs to their religious opinions. 
Mary inherited a congenial spirit with her husband, Philip il. of Spain, 
whose intolerance cost him the loss of a third part of hi^ dominion-. 
5. iMary was succeeded in 1,558 by hersistepKlizabeth^he daugh- 
ter of Anna liullen, a protestant, the more zealous from an abhor- 
rence of the character of her predecessor, in her rei^n the religior* 
of England becam.i stationary. The hierarchy was established in ilB 

f)re;ent form, by arciibisliops, bishops, priests, and deacons, the king 
K-ing by law the head of tiie church. The liturgy had liecn settled 
in the reign of Cdward Vi. The canons are agreeable chiefly to the 
Lutheran tenets. 

Of the reformation in vScotland we shall afterwards treat under a 
separate section. 



SECTION XLI. 

OF TIIE DISCOVERY A.\D CONQUEST OF A.MERIC.\ BY THE 
SPAMAllUS. 

1. Among those great events which distinguished the age of Charles 
V. was the conquest of IVlexico by Fern uido Cortez, and of Peru by 
the two brothers, Francis and Gon/alo Pizarro. The discovery ot' 
America preceded the lirsl ol" these events about twenty-seven years; 
but the acco.inl of it has been postponed, that the whole niay be 
shortly treated in connexion. 

\ CliristoplKT Columbus,, a Genoes?, a man of an enterprising spirit, 
having in vain solicited iMicoura;^enuMU from his native stated Irom 
Portugal, and tVorn England, \o attempt discoveries in the western 
ocean, applied to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. I'nder the patron- 
age of Isabella, as queen ol" C-aslile, he was lurnisjied with three 
small ships, ninety men, and a few tliousand ducats for the expense 
nf his voyage. .Aifter tliirly-three days' ^ail tVom the Canaries be dis- 
covered S:ui Salvador, Sej>fember, 1,192; and soon after the islands 
of Cuba and Hispaniola. He returned to S|,ain. and brought a few 
of the natives, so.iie presents ot' gold, and (•u^lo^ilies of the country. 
He was treated by the Spaniards »\ ilh the bitlliest honours, and soon 
supplied wUh a suitable annain^nt for the pruseculion of bis discove- 
ries in his sf:cond voyage he »l;srovered the C.iribbei.-s and Jamaica. 
Jn a third voyage he descried the continent of America, within ten 
degrees of the equator, toward the isthmus of Panama. 'J'he next 
ye.ir the geographer Americns followed the tr.ick ol" Colunilius, and 
Ind the undo?''r\ed honour of gi\i:\g his name to this continent. 

L*. The inhaljitants of .Xmeriia and its islands were a race of men 
quite new to the European*. They are of the colour of copper. In 
some qii irtors, as in Mexico and Peru, the Spaniards are sai<l to li.ne 
li)und a dourisliing empire, and a peoj)le polished, rehned, and luxu- 
rious ; in others, man was a naked savage, the member of a wander- 
i'lg trilie, whose sole occupation w:ls hunting or war. The savages 
oi the cunlinenl werechai-.icterized by their cruelty to their enemies, 
their contempt of death, and their generous alVection for their I'riends. 
The inhabitants of the islands were a milder race, of gentler manners, 
and less hardy co:ilonn.»lion of body and mind. The larger animalsj 
39 the horse, the row, were unknown in Aiaericu. 



176 MODERN HISTORY. 

3 Those newly-discovered countries were believed to contain in- 
exhaustible tresisures. The Spaniards, under the pretence ot reh- 
eiun and policy, treated the inhabitants with the most shocking mhu- 
mauity. The rack, the scourge, the Ihggot, were employed to con- 
vert them to Christianity. They were hunted like wild beasts, or 
burnt alive in their thickets and fastnesses. Hispaniola, contauung 
three millions of inhabitants, and Cuba, contaaimg above 600,00U, 
were absolutely depopulated in a few years. It was now resolved to 
explore the continent; and Fernando Cortez, wiUi eleven sliiiis and 
617 men, sailed for that purpose from Cuba in 1,.J1'J. , Landing at 
Tabasco, he advanced, though with a bravo oppo-ition Iroui the na- 
tives, into the interior of the country. The state ol 1 las«:ala, alter 
inelfectual resistance, became the all\ of the Spaniard-s. On the ap- 
proach of the Spaniards to Mexico, the terror oi tlieirname bad pav- 
ed the way for an easy conquest. - 

4. The Mexican empire, though founded little more than a century 
before this period, had arisen to great splendour, its sovereign, Mon- 
tezuma, received the invaders with the reverence due to superior 
beings. But a short acquaintance opened tiie eyes of the Mexicans. 
Finding nothing in the Spaniards beyouil what Avas human, they were 
daring enough to attack and put to death a few of them. The in- 
trepid Cortez immediately marched to the palace with tilty men, 
and putting the emperor in irons, carried him otl' prisoner to his 
camp; where he afterwards persuaded him to ackiiowledije hinisell 
a vassal of the king of Castile, to hold his crown of the king as hi^ 
superior, and to subject his domhiions to the pay nieut ol an annual 
tribute. 

5. Velasquez, governor of Cuba, jealous of Cortez, attempted to 
supersede him, by despatching a superior anuy to the continent; but 
Cortez defeated his troops, and compelleti them to join his own ban- 
ners. In an attack by the Mexicans llu- the rescue of their sovereign, 
Montezuma, having otlered to mediate between them and their ene- 
mies, was intlignantiy put to death by his own subjects. The whole 
empire, under its new sovereign, Guatimo/.in, was now armed against 
the Spaniards; and while the plains were covered with their archers 
and spearmen, the lake of Mexico was filled with armed canoes. To 
oppose the latter the Spaniards built a lew vessels under the walls of 
their chj', and soon evinced their superiority to their feeble Ibe on 
both elements. The monarch was taken prisoner by the oflicers of 
Cortez, and was stretched naked on burning coals, because he rel'us- 
ed to discover his treasures. Soon after a conspiracy agahist the 
Spaniards was discovered, and the wretched Gualimozin". with all the 
princes of his blood, were executed on a gibbet. This'was the last 
blow to the power of the Mexicans; and Cortez was now absolute 
master of the whole empire, l,ry25. 

6. In the year 1,531 Diego D'Almagro and Francis Pizarro, witli 
250 foot, 60 horse, and 12 small pieces ol' cannon, landed in Fern, a 
large and flourishing empire, governed by an ancient nice ot mon- 
arcus named Incas. The Inca Atabaiipa receiving the Spaniards with 
reverence, they immediately reciuirod hiui to i mijrace the chrisliaii 

who 



laith, and surrend^^r ail his dominions to the emperor Charles V.,wh( 
had obtained a gitt ot them trom the pope. The proposal b(>ing mis 
unuerslood, or received with hesitation, Fizarro s.'ized the inonaicl 



h 
on 



as his prisoner, while Lis troops musNicivd 5,000 oithe Feru\ians 
the si,ot. 'i he empiie tvas now pi-!,J.ered of prodigious treasuies m 
gold and precious stones; and Atabaiipa, being suspected of conceal- 



MODERN HISTORY. 177 

iiig a pari from his insatiable invaders, was solemnly tried as a crimi- 
nal, and strangled at a stake. 

7. The courage of the Spaniards surpassed even their inhumanity. 
D'Almagro marched 500 leagues, through roniinual opposition, to 
Cusco, and penetrated across the Cordilleras into Chili, two degrees 
beyond the southern tropic He was slain in a civil war between 
him and his assix:iate Fraocis PiJ^irro, who was soon after assassinated 
by the party of his rival. A (i?w years atier the Spaniards discover- 
ecl the inexhaustible silver mines of Potosi, which they compelled 
the Peruvians to work tor their advantage. They are now wrought 
by the negroes of Africa. The native Peruvians," who are a weakly 
race of men, were soon almost exterminated by cruelty and intoler- 
able labour. The humane bishop of Chiapa remoii>trated with suc- 
cess to Charles V. on this subject ; and the residue ol" this miserable 
people have been since treated with more indulgence. 

a. The Spanish acquisitions in America belong to the crown, and 
not to the state: they are the absolute properly of the sovereign, 
and regulated solely by his will. They couMsl of three provinces, 
Mexico. Peru, and Terra Firma ; and are governed by three vice- 
roys, who exercise supreme civil and military authority over their 
respective provinces. There are eleven courts of audience tor the 
administration of justice, with whox' judicial proceedings the vice- 
roys Ciumol inlerli^re ; and their judgments are subject to api)eal to 
the royal council of the indies, whose jurisdiction extends to every 
department, ecclesiiustical, civil, military, and commercial. A tribu- 
Dai iu .'^pain, called Citsa de Ui CimtniUiciun^ regulates the departure 
ol the fleets, and liieir destination and equipment, under the control 
of the council of the Indies. 

9- The gold and silverof Spanish Americi, though the exclusive 
property of the crown ol" Spain, has, by means of war, marriages of 
princes, and extension of commerce, come into genend circulation, 
and has greatly increased the quantity of specie, ;md diminished the 
value of money over ail Europe. 



SECTION XLII. 

POSSESSIONS OF THE OTHER EUROPEAN NATIONS IN AMER- 
ICA. THE UNITED STATE-^. 

1. The example of the Spaniardi excited a desire in the other 
nalioDS of EurojM' to participate with them in the riches ol" the new 
world. The FrtMich, in l,.')a7, atleinpled to fortn a settlement on 
the coast of hra/.il, where the Porlujjuese had already e^t.ibiished 
thems«Ues from the beginning of the centurv- 'I'lie colony was 
divided by taction, and w;us >oiin utteily de^iroyed by the Portu- 
guese. It is one of tlie richest of the .Ameriian settlements, both 
from the produce of its soil, and its mines of gold and precious 
stones. 

2. The Spaniards were in possession of Floriila when the French 
atlenjpted to colonize it in I,.'jl)I, without success. The French 
established a setti.'inent in ;\cadie m l,i'>Ol, and founded Quebec in 
Canada in 1,G0U. liut these settlements were |K'rpetualiy sulject to 
attack from tlie Kn^lish. In l,o'Ji> the French liad not a tool of 
territory in America. Canada has been repeatedly taken by the 



J78 MODERN HISTORY. 

Fn^lish and restored, by different treaties, to the French ; but since 
fhe peace of U^^^^^ has been a British selllement Tiie French 
drew their greatest advantages from the islands o M. Domingo, 
cSaoupe, and Martinico. From their continental possessions ot 
SvSarandthe settlements on the Mississipi^i, which they have 
nnw lost thev never derived any solid beneht. . , ^ . 

3 The Dutch have no settlement on the continent of America, 
buf SurinamTrpart of Guiana; and, in the \\ est-lndies, the ishmds 
of Cumssoa and St. Eustatius. The Danes possess the inconsidera- 
ble islands of St. Thomas and Santa Cruz. 

4 The British have extensive settlements on the continent of 
America, and in the West-India islands. England derived her right 
fo her settlements in North America from the tirst discovery ol the 
country by Sebastian Cabot in 1,497, the year belorc tne discovery 
S the continent of South America by Columbus; but no attempte 
were made by the English to colonize any part of the country tiU 
nearly a century afterward. This remarkable neglect is m some 
measure accounted for by the frugal maxinis ol Henry \ 11., anci the 
unpropitious circumstances of the reigns ot 1 ienry \ 111., ot bdward v l., 
and ot the bigoted Mary : reigns peculiarly adverse to the extension 
ofindustry, trade, and navigation. ,, ,,, , •„ vin 

5 In 1,585 sir Walter Raleigh undertook to settle a colony in Vir- 
ginia, so named in honour of his queen ; but his altempLs were Iruit- 
{e^ss Two colonies, destined for settlement, were successively sent 
over to the Virginian territory ; but the first wasieduccd to great dis- 
tress, and taken back to England by sir l-'rancis Drake ; the second, 
left unsupported, could never afterward be found. 

6. Ill 1,606 king James granted a patent for settling two* planta- 
tions on the main coasts ot Nortti America. Dividing that portion 
of the country, which stretches from the thirty-lburth to the lorty- 
tiflii degree of latitude, into two districts nearly equal, he granted 
the soutbern, called the tirst colony, to the London company, and 
the northern, called the second, to the Plymouth company. On 
the reception of this patent several persons of distinction in the Eng- 
lish nation undertook to settle the southern colony; and in 1,607 the 
first permanent colony was settled in Virginia. 

7. The tirst settlement in the northern district was made at Ply- 
mouth in ] ,620, by a number of puritans, who, having a few years 
before left England, to liberate themselves from the oppressions of 
the episcopal hierarchy, had found a temporary asylum in Holland. 
In 1,629 the patent of Massachusetts was contirmed by king Charles 
I. ; and in the following year a large body of English non-conformists 
settled that territory. The settlement of Connecticut was begun in 
1,636 by emigrants from Massachusetts. The settlement of Provi- 
dence, in Rhode Island, was begun the same year by Roger Wil- 
liams, a clergyman, who, for his refusal to submit to the control of 
the government of Massachusetts, in reUgious matter's, had been ex- 
iled from that colony. New York, originally settled by the Dutch, 
and by them called New Netherlands, was taken from them by the 

Eng 

and 




principal 

was given in 1,681 by king Charles II. to William Penn ; and a set- 
tlement was begun the same year by a colony consisting principally 
of quakers. The patent of Maryland was given bv king Charles 1. 
to lord Baltimore in 1,632; and two years afterward the colony was 



MODERN HISTORY. 17© 

settled by a body of Roman cntholics from England. The charter 
of Carolina was granted by Charles II. to the earl of Clarendon and 
several associates in 1,663; and that colony was soon after settled by 
the English. In 1,729 the province was divided into two distinct 
governments, one of which was called North, and the other 
South Carolina. The charter of Georgia was given in \,lo2 by king 
George II. to a numi)er of persons in England, who, from motives o{ 
patriotism and humanity, projected a settleiaent in that wild territory. 
By this measure it was intended to obtain, th'st, possession of an exten- 
sive tract of country ; to strengthen the province of Carolina ; to 
rescu'=' a great number of people in Great Britain and htdand fmni 
the miseries of poverty ; to open an asylum for pei-secuted protes- 
tants in difi'erent parts of Europe ; and to attempt the convoivion and 
civilization of the natives. L nder the guidance of general Ogle- 
thorpe a colonjr was settled here in 1,73J. Nova Scotia was settled 
in the reign ot James I. The Floridas were ceded by Spain to Great 
Britain at tiio peace of 1,763; but they were reduced by the arms 
of his catiiolic majesty during the American war, and guaranteed to 
the crown of Spnin by the detinitive treaty ol" 1,7S3. 

8. All the British colonies in North America were subject to the 
government of (ireat Britain from the time of their settlement un- 
til the year 1,773. Opposition to certain measures of the British 
parliament, the tendency of which, was to claim for the king and 
parliament of Great Britain, a right to tax colonics, that did not send 
representatives to parliament, and were tlierefore iK^-itik- to rights and 
liberties, that had been enjoyt'd and exercised Ity the colonies from 
their origin, having induced the government to stMid troops to Amer 
ica to enforce sul>mis>;ion to their laws, hostilities commenced in 
April, 1,775. In 1,776 the American congress declared the I'niled 
States independent. In September 1,783, a detinitive treaty of peace 
Wivsi concluded, by which his Britannic majesty acknowledged the 
United States of America to l)e free, sovereign, and indepemlent 
states. In 1,789 the government of these states was organized, con- 
formably to ihL- federal constitution ; and George Washington, who 
had l)een commander inchief of the revolutionary army, was inaugu- 
rated the lirst pn^sident. 

9. The British colonies in America, and the United States, are 
''greatly inferiot' to the Spanisli Am(>rii;an colonies in natural riches, 
tis they produce neither silver nor gold, nor cochineal; yet they 

are in gener.d of fertile soil, and consi(lerai)ly improved hy indnslry. 

They allorda prolilable market lor Knropean manul'actures. Cmiaua 

furnishes lor exportation wheat, tlour, llax-soed, lumber, lish, potash, 

oil. ginseng, Ail's, i)elts, and various other commodities. The pro- 
I duceof the West India islands (.lamaica, Barbadoes, St. Christopher's, 
i Antigua, the Gr.inadas, and other i-<lands), in sugar, coflee, cocoa, 
I rum, ir.oliL^ses, cotton, and other arlick'S, is of very great value to 
I the mother country-. The northern states in the federal union fur- 
', nish masts, sl«ip timber, lumber, potash, fuis. pelts, lish, beef, pork, 

butter, cheese, rye, and maize; the middle states, tlour, maize, 
J riax-seed. peas, deer skins, .mA other peiis; and the southern states, 

rice, llour, indigo, cotton, tobacco, pork, live oak, tar, pilcli, and 

turpentine. 



ISO MODERN HISTORY. 



SECTION XLUI. 



OF THE STATE OF THE FINE ARTS IN EUROPE IN THE AGE 
OF LEO X. 

1. In enumerating those great objects which characterized the 
end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century, we 
remarked the liigh advancement to which the tine arts attained in 
Europe in the age of Leo X. The strong bent which the human 
rnind seems to take, in certain periods, to one class of pursuits in 
preference to all others, as in the age of Leo X., to the hne arts of 
j)ainting, sculpture, and architecture, may be partly explained from 
moral causes ; such as the peaceful state of a country, the genius or 
t;iste, and the liberal encouragement of its sovereigns, the general 
emulation that arises where one or two artists are of confessed emi- 
nence, and the aid which men derive from the studies and works of 
one another. These causes have doubtless great influence, but do 
not seem entirely sufficient to account for the fact. The operation 
of such causes Tnust be slow and gradual. In the case of the fine 
arts, the transition from obscurity to splendour was rapid and instan- 
taneous.' From the contemptible mediocrity in which they had re- 
mained for ages, they rose at one step to the highest pitch of excel- 
lence. 

2. The arts of painting and sculpture were buried in the west un- 
der the ruins of the Roman empire. They gradually declined in 
the latter ages, as we may perceive by the series of the coins of the 
lower empire. The Ostrogoths, instead of destroying, sought to 
preserve the monuments of taste and genius. They were even the 
inventors of some of the arts dependent on design, as the composition 
of Mosaic. But, in the middle ages, those arts were at a very low 
ebb in Europe. They began, however, to revive a little about the 
end of the thirteenth century. Cimabue, a Florentine, from the 
sight of the paintings of some Greek artists in one of the churches, 
began to attempt similar performances, and soon excelled his models. 
His scholars were Ghiotto, Gaddi, Tassi Cavillini, and Stephano Fio- 
rentino ; and they formed an academy at Florence in 1,360. 

3. The works of those early painters, with some fidelity of imita- 
tion, had not a spark of grace or elegance ; and such continued to be 
the state of the art till toward the end of the fifteenth century, whea 
it arose at once to the summit of perfection. Raphael painted at i 
first in the hard manner of his master Ferugino ; but soon deserted I 
it, and struck at once into the noble, elegant, and graceful ; in short, j 
the imitation of the antique. This change was the result of genius j 
alone. The' ancient sculptures were familiar to the early painters, j 
but they had looked on them with cold indifference. They were j 
new surveyed by other eyes. Michael Angelo, Raphael, and Leo- I 
nardo da Vinci, were animated by the same genius that formed the 
Grecian Appelles, Zeuxis, Glycon, Phidias, and Praxiteles. 

4. Nor was Italy alone thus distinguished. Germany, Flanders, and 
Switzerland, produced in the same age artists of consummate merit. 
Before the notice of these we shall briefly characterize the schools 
ofltai^. 

5. I irst in order is the school of Florence, of which the most em- 
inent master was Michael Angelo. born in 1,474. His works are 



MODERN HISTORY. 181 

eharacterized by a profound knowledge of the anatomy of the human 
figure, perhaps chiedy formed on the contemplation of the ancient 
sculptures. His paintings exhibit the grand, the subhme, and terri- 
ble ; but he drew not trorn the antique its simple grace and beauty. 

6. The Roman school was founded by Raphael d'Urbino, born in 
1,483. This great painter united almost every excellence of the art. 
In invention, grace, majestic simplicity, forcible expression of the 

f)assions, he stands unrivalled, and far beyond all competition. He 
las borrowed liberally, but without servility, from the antique. 

7. Of the school ot Lombardy, or the Venetian, the most eminent 
artists were Titian, Giorgione, Corregio, and Parmeggiano. Titian 
is most eminent in portrait, and in the painting of female beauty. 
Such is the truth of his colouring, that his figures are nature itself. 
It was the testimony of Michael Angelo to the merits of Titian, that, 
if he had studied at Rome or Florence, amidst the master-pieces of 
antiquity, he would have eclipsed all the painters in the world. Ti- 
tian lived to the age of a hundred. Giorgione, with similar merits, 
was cut off in the dower of his youth. Correggio was superior in 
colouring, and in the knowledge of light and shacie, to all who have 
preceded or followed him. This knowledge was the result of study. 
in other painters those etTects are frequently accidental, as we ob- 
serve that they are not uniform. Parmeggiano imitated the graceful 
manner of Raphael, but carried it to a degree of affectation. 

8. Such were the three original Italian schools. The character o- 
the Florentine is grandeur and sublimity, with great excellence o- 
design, but a want of grace, of skill in colouring, and effect of light 
and shade. The character of the Roman is equal excellence of de- 
sign, a grandeur tempered with moderation and simplicity, a high 
degree of grace and elegance, and a superior knowledge, though not 
an excellence, in colouring. The character of the Venetian is the 
perfection of colouring, and the utmost force of light and shade, 
with an inferiority in every other particular. 

9. To the school of Raphael succeeded the second Roman school, 
or that of the Caraccis, three brothers, of whom Annibal was the 
most famous. His scholars were, Guercino, Albano, Lanfranc, Dom- 
enichino, and Guido. Of these eminent painters the first and last 
were the best. The elegant contours of Guercino, and the strength 
sweetness, and majesty of Guido, are the admiration of all true judges 
of painting. 

10. in the same age the Flemish school, though of a quite differ- 
ent character, and inferior to the Italian, shone with great lustre. 
Oil painting was invented by the Flemings in the fifteenth century ; 
and, in that age, Heemskirk, Frans Floris, Quintin Matsys, and the 
German Albert Durer, were deservedly distinguished. Of the Flem- 
ish school, Rubens, though a painter of a much later age, is the 
chiaf ornament. His figures, though too corpulent, are drawn with 
great truth and nature. He possesses inexhaustible invention, and 
great skill in the expression of the passions. Switzerland produced 
Hans Holbein, a painter of great eminence in portrait, and remarka- 
ble for truth of colouring. From his residence at the court of Henry 
VIII. there are more specimens of his works in Britain '.lan of any 
other foreign painter. Holland had likewise its painters, whose chief 
merit was the faithful representation of vulgar nature, and perlect 
knowledge of the mechanism of the art, the power of colours, and 
the effect of light and shade. 

11. With the art of painting, sculpture and architecture were like- 



182 MODERN HISTORY. 

wise revived in the same age, and brought almost to perfection. 
The universal genius oi" Michael Angelo snone equally conspicuous 
in all the three departments. His statue of Bacchus was judged by 
Raphael to be the work of Phidias or Praxiteles. The Grecian ar- 
chitecture was tirst revived by the Florentines in the fourteenth cen- 
tury ; and the cathedral of Pisa was constructed partly from the ma- 
terials of an ancient Greek temple. The art arrived at perfection in 
the age of Leo X., when the church of St. Peter^s at Rome, under 
the direction of Bramante, San Gallo, Raphael, and Michael Angelo^ 
exhibited the noblest specimen of architecture in the world. ~ 

12. The invention of the art of engraving on copper by Tomaso 
Finiguerra, a goldsmith of Florence, is dated about 1,460.: From Ita- 
ly it travelled into Flanders, where it was first practised by Martin 
Schoen of Antwerp. His scholar was the celebrated Albert Durer, 
who engraved excellently both on copper and on wood. Etching on 
copper by meansof aquafortis, which gives more ease than the stroke 
of the graver, was discovered by Parmeggiano, who executed in that 
manner his own beautiful designs. No art underwent, in its early 
stages, so rapid an improvement as that of engraving. In the course 
of 150 years from its invention it attained nearly to its perfection; 
for there has been little proportional improvement in the last century, 
since the days of Audran, Poilly, and Edelinck. 

13. The art of engraving in mezzotinto is of much later date than 
the ordinary mode of engraving on copper. It was the invention of 
prince Rupert about 1,650. It is characterized by a softness equal 
to that of the pencil, and a happy blending of light and sha<le, and is 
tlieretbre peculiarly adapted to portrait, where those requisites are 
most essential. 

14. The age of Leo X. was likewise an era of very high literary 
splendour ; but of the distinguished writers of that period we shall 
afterwards treat, in a connected view of the progress of literature 
and the sciences during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 



SECTION XLIV. 

OF THE OTTOMAN POWER IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. From the period of the taking of Constantinople, in the middle 
of the fifteenth century, the Turks were a great and conquering 
people. In the sixteenth century, Selim I., after he had subdued 
Syria and Mesopotamia, undertook the conquest of Egypt, then gOA'- 
erned by the Mamelukes, a race of Circassians, who had seized the 
country in 1,250, and put an end to the government of the Aralnaa 
princes, the posterity of Saladin. The conquest of Egypt by Seiim 
made little change in the form of its government. It professes to 
own the sovereignty of the Turks, but is in reality still governed by 
the Mameluke beys. 

2. Solyman (the magnificent) son of Sehm, was, like his prede- 
cessors, a great conqueror. The island of Rhodes, possessed by the 
knights of St. John, was a darling object of his ambition. These 
knights had ejcpelled the Saracens from the island in 1,310. Soly- 
man attacked Rhodes with 140,000 men and 400 ships. The Rho- 
dian knights, aided by the English, Italians, and Spaniards, made a 
noble defence ; but, after a siege of many months, were forced to 
rapitulate aad evacuate the island, in 1.522. Since that time Rhodes 



MODERN HISTORY. la^ 

has been the property of the Turks. ..The coipmercial laws of the 
ancient Rhodians were adopted byi.the Koman^, and at this day are 
the foundation of the maritime jurisprudence of all the nations of 
Europe, 

3. Soiyjnan subdued the greater part of Hungary, Moldavia, and 
Walachiaj and took from the Persians Georgia and Bagdat. His 
son Selira II. took Cyprus from the Venetians in 1,571, They ap- 
plied to ihe pope for aid, who, together with PiiiUp II, of Spain, enter- 
ed into a trij)le aUiance against the Ottoman power. An armament of 
26U ships ot war, commanded by Philip's natural brother, Don John 
of Austria, was opposed to 250 Turkish gallies in the gulf of Le- 
panlo, near Corinth ; and the Turks were defeated, with the loss of 
15J ships and 15,UU0 men, l,o71. This great victory was soon after 
followed by the taking of Tunis by the same commander. 

4. But these successes were of little consequence. The Otto- 
m in power continued extremely formidable. Under Amurath II, the 
Turks made encroachments on Hungary, and subdued a part of Per- 
sia. Mahomet III., though a barbarian in his private character, sup- 

Eo; ied the dignity of the empire, and extended its dominions. The 
'ttoman power declined from his time, and yielded to that of the 
Persians under Schah- Abbas the great, who wrested from the Turks 
a large part of their late-acquired dominions. 



SECTION XLV. 

STATE OE PERSIA AND OTHER ASIATIC KINGDOMS IN THE 
SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES. 

t. The great empire of Persia, in the end of the fifteenth century, 
underwent a revolution on account of rehgion. Haydar or Sophi, a 
religious enthusiast, established a new sect of Mahometans, which 
held Ali to be the successor of Mahomet instead of Omar, and abol- 
ished the pilgrimages to Mecca, The Persians eagerly embraced a 
doctrine which distinguished them from their enemies the Turks; 
and Isnjael, the son of Sophi, following the example of Mahomet, 
enforced his opinions by the sword. He subdued all Persia and Ar- 
menia, and left this vast empire to his descendants. 

2. Schah-Abbas, surnamed the great, was the great-grandson of 
Ismael Sophi. He ruled his empire with despotic sway, but with 
most able policy. He regained the provinces which had been 
taken by the Turks, and drove the Portuguese from their settlement 
of Ormuz. He rebuilt the fallen cities of Persia, and contributed 
reatly to the introduction of arts and civilization. His son Schah- 
esi reigned weakly and unfortunately. In his time Schah-Gean, the 
reat Mogul, deprived Persia of Candahar; and the Turks took Bag- 
at in 1,6:38. From that period the Persian monarchy gradually de- 
clined. Its sovereigns became the most despicable slaves to their 
own ministers; and a revolution in the beginning of the eighteenth 
century put an end to the dynasty of the Sophia, and gave the throne 
to the Afghan princes, a race of Tartars. 

3 The government of Persia is almost as despotic as that of Tur- 
key. The sovereign draws a small yearly tax from every subject, 
and receives likewise stated gifts on particular occasions. The 
ftrown is hereditary, with the exclusion of females; but the sons of 



\U MODERN HISTORY. 

a daughter succeed in their course. There is no other rank in Per- 
sia than that annexed to otfice, which is held during the monarch's 
pleasure. The national religion is the Mahometan, as reformed by 
Sophi. The sect of the Guebres preserve the religion of Zoroaster, 
as contained in the Zendavesta and Sadder, and keep alive the sacred 
fire. (Part I., Sect. XL) 

4. The poetry of the Persians displays great fancy and luxuriance 
of imagery. The epic poet Firdousi is said to rival the various 
merits of Homer and Ariosto; and the writings of Sadi and Hatez, 
both in prose and poetry, are admired by all who are conversant in 
oriental literature. 

5. Tariary. From this vast tract of country sprang those con- 
querors who produced all the great revolutions in Asia. Tartary is no 
more than a vast desert, inhabited by wandering tribes, who follow 
the life of the ancient Scythians. The Turks, a race of Tartars, 
overwhelmed the empire of the caliphs. Mahmoud, a Tartar, con- 
quered Persia and great part of India in the tenth century. The 
Tartar Gengiscan subdued India, China, Persia, and Asiatic Russia, in 
the beginning of the thirteenth century. Batoucan, one of his sons, 
ravaged to the frontiers of Germany. Tamerlane, the scourge of 
the Turks, and the conqueror of a great part of Asia, was of the 
race of Gengiscan. Babar, great-grandson of Tamerlane, subdued 
all the country between Samarcand and Agra in the empire of the 
Mogul. The descendants of those conquerors reign in India, Persia, 
and China. 

6. Tfiibet. The southern part of Tartary, called Thibet, exhibits 
the phenomenon of a kingdom governed by a human being called 
the JDalai Lama, or Great Lama, whose divinity is acknowledged 
not only by his own subjects, but over China and a part of India. 
This supposed god is a young man, whom the priests educate and 
train to his function, and in whose name they in reality govern the 
kingdom. 



SECTION XLVI. 
HISTORY OF INDIA. 

1. The earliest accounts of this great tract of civilized country 
are those of Herodotus, who lived about a century before Alexander 
the great; and it is remarkable that the character given of the people 
by that early writer, corresponds perfectly with that of the modern 
Hindoos. He had probably taken his accounts from Scylax of Cari- 
andria, whom Darius Hystaspes had sent to explore the countiy. 
But till the age of Alexander, the Greeks had no particular knowl- 
edge of that extraordinary people. Alexander penetrated into the 
Panjab, where his troops refusing to proceed, he embarked on the 
Hydaspas, which runs into the Indus, and thence pursued his course 
for al)ove 1,000 miles to the ocean. The narrative given by Arrian 
of this expedition was taken from the verbal accounts of Alexander's 
officers ; and its particulars agree yet more remarkably than those of 
Herodotus with the modern manners of the Hindoos. 

2. India was visited by Seleucus, to whose shai'e it fell in the par- 
tition of Alexander's empire; and Antiochus the great, 200 years 



MODERN HISTORY. 185 

afterward, made a short expedition tliither. It is probable too that 
some small intercourse subsisted between the Greek empire of Bao 
triana and India ; but, till the fifteenth century, no European power 
thought of forming any establishment in that country. From the age 
of Alexander down to the period of the Portuguese discoveries there 
had constantly been some commercial intercourse between Europe 
and India, both by sea and across the desert. 

3. The Mahometans, as early as A. D. 1,000,1 had begun to estab- 
lish an empire in India. Mahmoud, a Tartar, conquered a great 
part of the country, and established his capital at Ghazna, near the 
sources of the Indus, extirpating, wherever he came, the Hindoo 
religion, and establishing the Mahometan in its stead. Mohammed, * 
Gori, in 1,194, penetrated to Benares; and one of his successors 
fixed the seat of his empire at Delhy, which has continued to be tlie 
capital of the Mogul princes. The sovereignty founded by Mah- 
moud was overwhelmed in 1,222 by Gengiscan, as was his empire in 
the tbllowing century by Tamerlane, whose posterity are at this day 
on the throne of the Mogul empire. 

4. The Mogul empire was, even in the beginning of the 18th cen- 
tury, the most powerful and nourishing of all the Asiatic monarchiesr^ 
The emperor Aurengzebe, the son of Schah-Gean though a mon- 
ster of cruelty, and a most despotic tyrant, enjoyed a life prolonged 
to a hundred years, crowned ^vith uninterrupted prosperity and suc- 
cess. He extended his empire over the whole peninsula of India 
within the Ganges. 

6. The dominion of the Mogul is not absolute over all the coun- 
tries which compose his empire. Tamerlane allowed the petty 
Srinces, rajahs or nabobs, to retain their territories, of which their 
escendants are at this day in possession. They pay a tribute to the 
great Mogul, as an acknowledgment of his sovereignty, and ob- 
serve the treaties agreed to by their ancestors; but they are ia 
other respects independent princes. 

6. Bengal became a part of the Mogurs empire by conquest in the 
end of the sixteenth century, and was commonly governed by a son 
of the great Mogul, who had under him several inferior nabobs, the 
. former princes of the country. Such was its condition when the 
British East India company, between 1,751 and 1,760, conquered and 
obtained possession of that kingdom, together with Bahar and 
part of Orissa, a large, populous, and most nourishing country, con- 
taming above ten millions of inhabitants, and producing an immense 
reveniie; and these territories have since that period received a con- 
siderable addition. The East India company has the benefit of the 
whole commerce of the Mogul empire, with Arabia, Persia, and , 
Thibet, as well as with the kingdoms of Azem, Aracan, Pegu, Siam, 
Malacca, China, and many of the oriental islands. 

The fixed establishments of the British in the country of Indostaa 
have afforded opportunity of obtaining much instructive knowledge 
I'elative to the ancient state of that country, of which we shall give 
a short sketch in the following section, 



V 



186 MODERN HISTORY. 



SECTION XLVIl. 



ANCIENT STATE OF INDIA. MANNERS, LAWS, ARTS, 
SCIENCES, AND RELIGION OF THE HINDOOS, 

1. The remains of the ancient knowledge of the Hindoo^'^ Have 
been preserved by a hereditary priesthood, in the Sanscrit language, 
long since extinct, and only known to a lew of the Bramins. The 
zeal ot some learned Europeans has lately opened that source ol" in- 
formation, whence we derive the most interesting particulars of this 
extraordinary people, perhaps the first cultivators of the sciences, 
and the instructers of all the nations of antiquity. We shall briefly 
notice their singular division into ca«ts, their civil policy, laws, prog- 
ress in the arts and sciences, and religion. 

2. The whole body of the people was divided\into four orders, or 
casts. The highest cast, that of the Bramins, was devoted to religion 
and the cultivation of the sciences ; to the second belonged the pres- 
ervation of the state ; they were its sovereigns and its magistrates 
in peace, and its soldiers in war; the third were the husbandmen and 
merchants; and the fourth the artisans, labourers, and servants. 
These are inseparable distinctions, and descend from generation to 
generation. Moreover, the individuals of each class follow invariably 
the proiessions of their forefatliers. Every man, from his birlh, 
knows the function allotted to him, and fulfils with ease and satisfac- 
tion the duty which he cannot avoid. Hence arises that permanence 
of manners and institutions which so singularly characterizes this 
ancient nation. 

3. This classification is an artificial arrangement, which could have 
originated only from the mind of a legislator among a polished peo- 
ple, completely obedient to government. It is therefore a proof ol 
the highly civilized state of the Hindoo nation in the most remote 
periods ot antiquity. 

4. The civil policy of the Hindoos is another proof of their ancient 
civilization. At the time of Alexander the great, India was divided 
into large and powei'ful kingdoms, governed by sovereigns whose do- 
minion was not absolute, but controlled by the superior authority of 
the Bramuis. A system of feudalism has ever prevailed in India. 
The rights to land flow from the sovereign, to whom a certain duty 
is payable by the class of the husbandmen, who transmit their posses- 
sions to their children under the same tenure. Strabo and Diodorus 
remarked three classes of officers among the Indians : one class whose 
department v. as the regulation of agriculture, tanks, highways ; 
another which superintended the police of the cities ; a third which 
regulated the military department. The same policy prevails at this 
day under the Hindoo princes. 

5. The jurisprudence of Hindostan is an additional proof of great 
antiquity and civilization. The Ayen-Akbery, and still more the 
compilation of Hindoo laws from the ancient Sanscrit records, made 
by order of Mr. Hastings, contain the jurisprudence of a refined and 
commercial people, among whom law had been a study and profes- 
sion 

6. Many monuments exist in India of the advanced state of the use- 
ful and elegant arts in the remotest periods of antiquity. The an- 
<-,ient pagodas, of vast extent and magnificence, whether cut in ^be 



MODERN HISTORY. m 

solid rock, as in Elephanta and Salsette, or in the open air, as at 
Chilamhrum and Seringham ; the sumptuous residences of the Bra- 
mins ; and the ancient hill fortresses, constructed with prodigious 
strength and soUdity, evince a great advancement in the arts. The 
resort of the most pohshed nations of antiquity to India for cotton 
clotiis, fine linen, and works in metal and ivory, proves these manu- 
factures to have been superior to all known at that time in Europe. 

7. The late translations from the Sanscrit of several ingenious 
compositions of high antiquity, as the dramatic piece Sacontala, the 
Hitopadesa., a series of moral apologues and fables, the Muhabarat^ ■ 
an epic poem, composed above 2,0UU years before the Christian era, 
all concur in proof of a similar advancement in literature. We have 
reason to believe from such works as are of a philosophical nature, 
that there is scarcely a tenet of the Greek philosophy which has not 
been antecedently the subject of discussion among the Bramins of 
India. 

8. The numeral ciphers first introduced into Europe by the Ara- 
bians were, as those authors confess, borrowed from the Indians. 
Above a century ago, the French mathematicians evinced, by the 
evidence of a Siamese manuscript, containing tables for calculating 
the places of the heavenly bodies, the astonishing advancement 
made by this ancient people in the science of astronomy. A set of 
astronomical tables obtained lately from the Bramins by M. Gentil 
goes back to an era termed Calyoughain, commencing 3,102 years 
before the birth of Christ. These tables are used by the modern 
Bramins, who are quite ignorant of the principles on wliich they 
have been constructed. M. Bailiy has proved that they are the 
same as those employed by the modei'ns, with which the Greeks and 
Chaldeans were utterly unacquainted. 

9. Lastly, from the religious opinions and worship of the Hindoos 
we must draw the same conclusion as from all the preceding facts. 
One uniform system of superstition pervades every religion of India, 
which is supported by the most sagacious policy, and by every thing 
that can excite the veneration of its votaries. The Bramins, elevat- 
ed above every class of men, and exclusively acquainted with the 
mysteries of that religion, which it is held impious tor any other class 
to attempt to penetrate ; the implicit reliance on the authority of 
these Bramins ; the ceremonies of their worship, adapted to im- 
press the imagination and to affect the passions ; all concurred to forti- 
ty this potent superstition, and to give its priests a supreme ascen- 
dancy over the minds of the people. But those priests, enlightened 
as they v»ere, rejected that false theology. Their writings demon- 
strate that they entertained rational and elevated conceptions with 
regard to the Supreme Being, and the support of the universe, 

10. On the whole, there is a high probability that India was the 
great school from which the most early polished nations of Europe 
derived their knowledge of arts, sciences, and hterature. 

Persons who want more particular inlbrmation respecting India 
are referred to Maurice's Indian Antiquities, and Tennant's Indian 
Kccreation?. 



188 MODERN HISTORY. 



SECTION XLVIIl. 

OF CHINA AND JAPAN. 

1. As we proceed eastward in the survey of the Asiatic continent, 
the great empire of China next sohcits our attention. In the end of 
the tenth century, China, Persia, and the greater part of India were 
ruled by the Tartar descendants of Gengiscan. Tlie Tartar family 
of Yven, who conquered China, made no change in its laws and sys- 
tem of government, which had been permanent from time immemo- 
rial. Of this family there reigned nine successive monarchs, without 
any attempt by the Chinese to throw off the Tartar yoke. The 
odious and contemptible character of the last of these sovereigns at 
length excited a rebellion, which, in 1,357, drove the Tartars from 
the throne ; and the Chinese, for 276 years, obeyed their native^ 
princes. The Tartars, taking advantage of an insurrection in one of 
the provinces, invaded China in 1,641, and made an easy conquest. 
The emperor shut himself up in his palace, and, after putting to 
death all his family, finished the scene by hanging himself. The 
same Tartars occupy the throne of China at this day, and observe 
the same wise policy of maintaining inviolate the Chinese laws, poli- 
cy, and manners. Of these we shall give a brief account in the sub- 
sequent section. 

2. The empire of .Tapan was discovered by the Portuguese about 
the middle of the sixteenth centnry. The open and unsuspicious 
character of this industrious and polished people led them to en- 
courage the resort of foreigners to their ports ; and the Spaniards, 
after they had obtained the sovereignty of Portugal, carried on~S" 
most beneficial trade to the coasts of Japan. The emperor zeal- 
ously promoted this intercourse, till the insatiable ambition of the 
Spaniards gave him alarmin" conviction of its danger. Under the 
pretence of converting the .Tapanese from idolatry^ a vast number 
of priests was sent into the country ; and one halt of the people 
were speedily set at mortal variance with the other. It now be- 
came necessary to prohibit this work of conversion by an imperial 
edict. However a tree trade was allowed till 1,637, when a con- 
spiracy of the Spaniards for dethroning the emperor and seizing the 
government was discovered. An edict was issued for the expulsion 
of all the Spaniards and Portuguese, who resisted till Ihey were 
overpowered by force of arms. Since that period all the European 
nations have been excluded from the ports of Japan. The Dutch 
only, who had been the dibcoverers of ihe conspiracy of the Span- 
iards, are allowed the privilege of landing on one of the small islands, 
for the purposes of trade, after making oath that thev are not of (he 
Portuguese religion. 



MODERN HISTORY. U9 



SECTION XLIX 

OF THE ANTIQUITY OF THE EMPIRE OF CHINA. STATE 
OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES, MANNERS, GOVERNMENT, 
LAWS. 

1. The antiquity of this vast empire, and the state of its govern- 
ment, laws, manners, and attainments in the arts and sciences, have 
furnished an ample tield of controversy. Voltaire, Raynal, and other 
writers have given to the Chinese empire an immense antiquity, and 
a character of such high civilization and knowledge of the sciences 
and arts at a very remote period, as to be utterly irreconcilable to the 
state and progress of man as described in the books of Moses. On 
the other hand, it is probable that the desire of invalidating those 
opinions has induced other writers of ability to go to an opposite ex- 
treme ; to undervalue this singular people, and to give too little 
weight to any accounts which we have received either of the dura- 
tion of their empire, of the economy of their government and police, 
or of their attainments in the arts and sciences. Amidst this contra- 
riety of sentiments we shall endeavour to form such opinion as ap- 
pears most consonant to the truth. 

2. The panegyrists of the Chinese assert that their empire has 
subsisted above 4,000 years, without any material alteration in its 
laws, manners, language, or even fashion of dress; in evidence of 
which they appeal to a series of eclipses, marking conlemporarj^ 
events, all accurately calculated, for 2,155 years before the birth of 
Christ. As it is eiisy to calculate eclipses backwards from the pres- 
ent day to any given period of time, it is thus possible to give to a 
history, fictitious from beginning to end, its chronology of real 
eclipses. This proof therefore amounts to nothing, unless it were 
likewise proved that all those eclipses were actually recorded at the 
time when they happened ; but this neither has been nor can be 
done ; for it is an allowed iact, that there are no regular historical 
records beyond the third century bolbre the christian era. The 
present Chinese are utterly ignorant of the motions of the celestial 
bodies, and cannot calculate eclipses. The series mentioned has 
therelbre in all probability been calculated by some of the Jesuits, 
to ingratiate themselves with the emperors, and flatter the national 
vanity. The Jesuits have presided in the tribunal of mathematics 
for above 200 years. 

3. But if the authentic annals of this empire go back even to the 
third century before Christ, and record at thai lime a high state of 
civilization, we must allow tiiat the Chinese are an ancient and early 
polished people, and that they have possessed a singular constancy 
m thi.'ir government, laws, and manners. Sir William Jones, no 
bigoted encomiast of this people, allows their great antiquity and 
early civilization, and, with mucii apparent probability, traces their 
origin from the Hindoos. He appeals to the ancient Sanscript records, 
wliiiti mention a migration of certain of the military class termed 
Chinas, from India to the countries east from Bengal. The stationa- 
ry condition of the arts and sciences in China proves that they have 
not originated with that people : and many peculiarities of the man- 
ners, iostiiutions, and popular religion ol the Chingse, have a near 
aflinity to those of the Hindoos. 



190 MODERN HISTORY. 

4. The government of China is that of an absolute monarchy. 
The patriarchal system pervades tlie whole, and binds all the mem- 
bers of this vast empire in the strictest subordination. Every father 
is absolute in iiis family, and may iritlict any punishment short of 
death upon his children. The mandarin of the district is absolute, 
with the power of life and death over all its members; but a capital 
sentence cannot be indicted without the emperors approbation. 
The emperor's power is absolute over all the mandarins, and every 
subject of the empire. To reconcile the people to this desiwtic 
authority, the sovereign alone is entitled to relieve the wants of the 
poor, and to compensate public calamities, as well as the misibrtunes 
of individuals. He is therefore regarded as the father of his people, 
and even adored as a benevolent divinity. 

5. Another circumstance which conciliates the people to their 
government is, that ail honours in China are conferred, according to 
merit, and that chiefly Uterary. The civil mandarins, who are the 
magistrates and judges, are appointed to olhce according to their 
measure of knowledge and mental emlowments. No olhce or nmk 
is hereditary, but may be aspired to by the meanest of the people. 
The penal jaws of China are remarkably severe; but their execu- 
tion may be remitted by the emperor. The judicial tribunals ai'e 
regulated by a body of written laws of great antiquity, and ibunded 
on the basis of universal justice and equity. The emperors opinion 
rarely differs from the sentences of those courts. One tribunal 
judges of the qualifications of the mandarins; another regtdates the 
morals of the people, and the national manners; a third is the tribu- 
nal of censors, which reviews the laws, the conduct of the magis- 
trates and judges, and even that of the emperor himself. These tri- 
bunals are filled ny an equal number of Chinese and Tartiirs. 

6. It has been observed that the sciences have bee.a stationary-k^ 
this empire for many ages. They are at this day extremely low^) 
though far beyond the attainments of a barbarous people. Tlie 
language of China seems to oppose the prosecution of speculative 
researches. It has no regular inflections, and can witli difliculty 
express abstract ideas. Ue have remarked the ignorance of the 
Chinese in mathematics and astronomy. Of physics they have no 
acquaintance beyond tho knowledge of apparent facts. They never 
ascend fo principles, nor form theories. Their knowledge of medi« 
cine is extremely limited, and is blended \vith the most contemptible 
suptTsfition. Of anatomy they know next to nothing ; and in sur- 
gery they have never ventured to amputate a limb, nor to reduce a 
fracture. 

7. The state of the useful and elegant arts has been equally sta- 
tionary as that of the sciences. Many ages ago they had attained 
a certain point of advancement, which they have never exceeded. 
The Chinese are said to have manufiictured glass for 2,000 years; 
yet at this day it is inferior in transparency to the European, and ia 
not used in their windows. They are reported to have known gun- 

f)owder from time immemorial ; but they never employed it in artil- 
ery or fire-arms till they were taught by the Europeans. They are 
said to have invented printing in the age of Julius Caesar, yet they 
know not the use of moveable types, and print from blocks of wood. 
When first shown the use of the compass in sailing, they affirmed 
that they were well acquainted with it, but found no occasion to em-. 
ploy it. The art of painting in China is mere mechanical imitation, 
without grace, expression, or even accuracy of proportions. Of th^ 



MODERN HISTORY. isi 

rnles of perspective they have not the smallest idea. In sculpture, 
as in the figures of their idols, the Chinese artists seem to delight in 
distortion and deformity. Their music is not regulated by any prin- 
ciples of" science. Tiiey have no semitones, and their instruments 
are imperfect and untnnable. The Chinese architecture has variety, 
lightness, and sometimes elegance ; but has no grandeur, nor sym- 
metrical beauty. 

8. In some of the arts the Chinese have attained great excellence. 
In Chin<^griculture>4s carried to the highest pitch of improvement. 
There is not a spot of waste land in the whole empire, nor any land 
■which is not highly cultivated. The emperor himself is the chief 
of the husbandmen, arul annually holds the plough wiih his own 
hands. From the high state of agriculture, and the modes of 
economizing food, is supported the astonishing population of 333 
millions, or 2G0 inhabitunls to every square mile of the empire. 
The gardening of the Chinese, and their admirable ombellisiiment 
of rural nature, have of late been the object of imitation in Kt|rope, 
but with far inferior success. (X^e manufacture of porcelain is an 
original invention of this people ; and the Euiopeans, tiiough ex- 
celling them in the form and ornament of the utensils, have never 
been able to attain the excellence of the material. 

9. The morals of th(^ Chinese. have furnished a subject both of 
praise and censure. The books of Confucius ure said to contain an 
admirable system of morality. But the principles of morals have 
their foundation in human nature, and must, in theory, be every 
nhere the same. The moral virtues of a people are not to be esti- 
mated from the books of their philosophers. It is probable that the 
manners of the superior classes are in China, as elsewhere, much 
inlluenced by education and example. The morals of the lower 
classes, are said to be extremely loose, and their practices most dis- 
hoi;est. They are regidated by no principle but sellish interest, 
and restrained only by the fear of punishment. 

10. The religion of the Chinese is dill'erent in the different ranks 
of society. There is np religion of the state. The emperor and 
the hiiiher mandarins profess the belief of one Supreme Being, 
Changti, whom they worship by prayer and thanksgiving, without 
any nuxture of idolatrous practices. They respect the lama of 
Thibet as the high-priest or prophet of this religion. A prevalent 
sect is that of Ttto-sse, who believe in the power of magic, the agency 
of" spirits, and iiie divination of futtu'e events. A third is the sect of 
Fo- derived from India, whose priests are the Bonzes, and whose 
fundamental doctrine is, that all things rose out of nothing, and must 
finally return to nothing; that all animals are first to undergo a series 
of tnaisuiigrations ; and that as man's chief hap|)iness is to approach 
as near as possible to a state of annihilation in this lite, absolute idle- 
ness is more laudable than occupation of any kind. A variety of 
hideous iilols is worshipped by this sect. 

11. TSe t^iiiuese luive their sacred books entitled iiTm^s ; as the 
Yliing, Clioiiking. &ic. ; which, among some good moral precepts, con- 
tain Miiicii mystery, childish superstition, and absurdity. These are 
chioHy resorted to I'orthe divining of future events, which seems the 
vlUmainm of research among the Chinese philosophers. The obser- 
vaiiuii of the lieaveuiy bodies is made for that purpose alone. The 
changes of weather, the performance or omission of certain cere- 
moaies, the occurrence of certain evetits in particular limes and 
places, are all believed tp have their influence on futurity, and are 



192 MODERN HISTORY. 

therefore carefully observed and recorded. The rules by which 
those omens are interpreted are said to have been prescribed by the 
great Confucius, the father of the Chinese philosophy, 500 years be- 
fore the christian era. , , .. ^„ • 

12 We conclude, on the whole, that the Chinese are a very re- 
markable people ; that their government, laws, policy, and knowl- 
edge of the arts and sciences, exhibit >inquestionable proofs ol great 
antiquity and early civilization ; that the extraordniary measure ot 
duration assigned to their empire by some modern writers rests on 
no solid proofs ; that their government, laws, manners, arts, and 
scientific attainments, are not deserving of that superlative praise 
which has been bestowed on them. 



SECTION L. 

M. BAILLY'S THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE SCIENCES 

AMONG THE NATIONS OF INDIA. 

1. The striking resemblance in many points of character between 
the Chinese and the ancient Egyptians, has led to the conjecture, 
either that they were originally the same people, one being a col- 
ony of the other, or have had, at some remote period, such inter- 
course, either by conquest or by commerce, as to occasion a recipro- 
cal communication of manners and the knowledge of arts and sciences. 
M. de Mairan has remarked the following points of similarity. The 
Egyptians and the Chinese had the same permanence of manners, 
and abhorrence of innovations; they were alike remarkable for the 
respect entertained by children to their parents; they were equally 
averse to war; they had the same general superficial knowledge of 
the arts and sciences, without the ability to make great attainments ; 
they both, in the most ancient times, used hieroglyphics ; the Egyp- 
tians had a snlrmn festival, called the feast of the lights ; the Chinese 
have the Jeast cifthe Jante'iiis; the featiirts of the Chinese are said to 
resemble liie ancient Ltypiian statues; certain characters engraven 
on an Egyptian bust of Isis were found to belong to the Chinese lan- 
guage. 

2. M. Bailly has taken a wider range of observation, and from a 
review of tlie manners, customs, opinions, and attainments of the 
Indians, Persians, Chinese, Chaldeans, and Egyptians, has discovered 
many circumstances of similarity between all those nations, equally 
remarkable as the foregoing. He has thence formed the singular 
hypothesis, that the knowledge common to all those nations has neen 
derived from the same original source, a most ancient and highly 
cultivated people of Asia, of which every trace is now extinct. If we 
find, says he, in the scattered huts of peasants, fragments interspersed 
of sculptured columns, we conclude for certain that they are not the 
Avork of the rude peasants who reared those huts, but that they are 
the remains of a magnificent building, the work of able architects, 
though we discover no other traces of the existence of that building, 
and cannot ascertain iis precise situation. 

3. The sciences and arts of the Chinese have been stationary for 
2,000 years. The people seem never to have availed thelnselves 
of the lights of their ancestors. They are like the inhabitants ol' a 
country recently discovered by a polished people, who have taught 



MODERN HISTORY. 193 

them some of their arts, and left their instruments among them. 
The knowledge which they possess, seems to have been imported, 
and not of original growth, for it has never been progressive. 

4. The Chaldeans were an enlightened people at the commence- 
ment of the Babylonish empire, 2,(X)0 years before the Christian era.^ 
They were astronomers, and understood the revolutions of the ce- 
lestial bodies. The Chaldeans were probably the remains of this 
ancient people. The Bramins of India believe in the unity of God, 
and the in.mortality of the soul ; but with these sublime tenets they 
intermix childish absurdities. They derived the former irom wise 
inslructers ; the latter were the fruit of their own ignorance. The 
Sanscrit, a copious and elegant language, and the vehicle of all the 
Indian knowledge and philosophy, has been a dead tongue for thou- 
sands of years, and is intelUgible only to a few of the cramins. It 
was probably the language of that great ancient people. 

5. The coincidence or similarity of customs concurs to establish 
-the belief of an original nation. The custom of libation was com- 
mon to the Tartars and Chinese, and to the Greeks and Romans. 
All the Asiatic nations had festivals of the nature of the Roman sntur- 
luilia. The tradition of the deluge is diffused among all those nations. 
The tradition of the giants attacking heaven is equally general. 
The doctrine of the meternpsychosis was common to the Egyptians, 
Greeks, Indians, Persians, Tartarians, and Chinese. The religion of 
all those nations is founded on the profound but erroneous doctrine 
of the two principles, a universal soul pervading all nature, and 
inert matte*' on which it acts. A conformity in a true doctrine is no 
proof of mutual communication or concert ; but it is ingeniously re- 
marked, that a conformity in a false doctrine comes very near to such 
a jiroof 

(i. The Egyptians, Chaldeans, Indians, Persians, and Chinese, all 
placed their temples fronting the ea'^t, to receive the first rays of the 
sun. Hence the worship of^the sun has been the religion of the an- 
cient peoi.le from which these are descended. All these nations had 
a cycle, or period of sixty years, for regulating their chronology. 
They all divided the circle into 360 degrees ; the zodiac into twelve 
signs ; and the week into seven days. The Chinese, Indians, and 
Egyptians designeil the seven days of the week by the names of the 
seven planets ninged in the same order. The long measures of the 
ancient nations had all one common origin. 

7. These singular coincidences, says M. Bailly, can be explained 
only upon three suppositions : l,that there was a free communica- 
tion belvvt-en all those ancient nations ; ii^ that those circumstances 
of coincidence are so founded in human nature, that the most un- 
connected nations could not fail to hit uj)onthcm; or. 3, that they 
have been all derived from a common source. He rejects the two 
former suppositions, as contrary, in his opinion, to fact, and adopts 
the last. 

8. The precise situation of this great ancient people, M. Bailly does 
not pretend to fix with certainly ; but offers probable reasons for 
conjecturing that it was about the 49th or 50th degree of north lati- 
tude, in the southern regions of Siberia. Many of the European 
anl *,si;aic nations attribute their origin to that quarter, which thence 
aj»})ear.s to have been extremely populous. Nitre, a production 
from animal substances, is more abundant there than in any other 
region. The observations of the rising of the stars, collected by 
Ptolemy, must have been made ia a climate where the longest day 



194 MODERN HISTORY. 

was sixteen hours, which corresponds to the latitude of 50 degrees, 
No European nation in that latitude understood astronomy in those 
early periods. The veneration of the Indians and Chinese for the 
Lama of Thibet is a proof that the religion of those nations originat- 
ed in that quarter, 

9. But does that region exhibit any traces of having been ever 
inhabited by a polished people ? Here the theory of M. Bailly seems 
to be least supported by proof He observes, that ancient mines 
have been discovered in those parts of Siberia, which have been 
wrought to great extent in a period beyond all record or tradition; 
that ancient sepulchres have been found, in which there were orna- 
ments of gold of skilful workmanship ; but the facts specified are so 
few as to warrant no positive inference. 

10. This theory is an amusing specimen of the author's ingenu- 
ity ; but it has not the force to draw our assent to his conclusions. 
We have noticed it as specifying many curious facts relative to the 
manners and attainments of the ancient nations, and as furnishing 
strong evidence of the common origin of mankind. The nations 
above mentioned, though many of them remote from one another, 
were all connected, as hnks ot a chain, by proximity ; whence it is 
easy to conceive that knowledge should diverge from a centre to 
a very distant circumference. M. Bailly has given no reasonable 
ground for lixing that centre in the position which he has assigned 
to it. 

SECTION LI. 

REIGN OF PHILIP II. OF SPAIN, REVOLUTION OF THE 
NETHERLANDS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF HOLLAND. 

L After a short survey of the Asiatic kingdoms, we return to the 
history of Europe in the sixteenth century. 

In the time of Philip II., the successor of Charles V.. the balance 
of power in Europe was sustained by Spain, France, England, and 
Germany, all at this time highly flourishing and respectai)le, either 
from the talents of their sovereigns, or their internal strength. Eliz- 
abeth, Henry II., and Philip II., were all acute and able politicians; 
though the policy of Philip partook more of selfish craft, and had 
less of the manly and heroic, than that ot^ either of his rival mon- 
archs. Philip was at this time sovereign of Spain, the Two Sicilies, 
Milan, and the Netherlands. He had likewise, lor a few years, the 
power of England at his command, by his marriage with Mary, the 
elder sister and predecessor of Elizabeth. 

2. Pope Paul IV., jealous of the power of Philip, formed an alli- 
ance with Henry II. of France to deprive the Spaniards of Milan 
and the Two Sicilies. Philip, with the aid of the English, defeated 
the French at St. Q,uintin in Picardy, and hoped from this signal vic- 
tory, to force the allies into a peace ; but the duke of Gtiise recov- 
ered the spirits of the French, by the taking of Calais from the Eng- 
lish, which they had now possessed for two hundred years. Anoth- 
er great victory, however, obtained by Philip near Gravelines, 
brought on the treaty of Catteau-Cambresis in 1,.559, by wliich the 
French surrendered to Spain no less than eighty-nine fortified towns 
in the Low Countries and in Italy. 



MODKRN HISTORY. laS 

3. Philip, now at ease from foreign disturbances, began to be dis- 
quieted on the score of reUgion. An intolerant bigot by nature, he 
resolved to extirpate every species of heresy from his dominions. 
The Netherlands, an assemblage of separate states, were all subject 
to Philip, under various titles ; and he had conferred the government^ 
ofl[Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Utrecht/ on William, prince of 
Or.itTge, a count of the German empire. The Lutheran and Calvin- 
istic opinions had made great progress in those quarters ; and Philip, 
determining to repress them, ^established the inquisition with plenary 
powers, created new bishops, and prepared to abrogate the ancient 
laws, and give the provinces a new political institution. These inno- 
vations created alarm and tumult ; and the duke of Alva was sent into 
Flanders to enforce implicit submission. 

4. The inquisition began its bloody work, and many of the prin- 
cipal nobility of the provinces were its victims. The minds ot the 
people were completely alienated, and a chief was only wanting to 
give union to their measures. The prince of Orange, who was 
under sentence of the inquisition, found no dithculty to raise an army ; 
and having easily reduced some of the most important garrison*, 
he was proclaimed stadtholder of Holland and Zealand in 1,570. 
Lighteen thousand persons perished by the hands of the executioner 
in the course of the duke ot Alva's government, which was of tive 
years' duration. His place was supplied by Kequesens, a man of hu- 
manity, but bound to obey his inhuman master, who, on the death of 
Kequesens, sent his own brother don John of .\ustria, to endeavour 
to regain the revolted states ; but the attempt was fruitless. The 
whole seventeen provinces had sufiered alike from the tyranny of 
their sovereign ; but particular jealousies prevented a general union, 
and only seven of them asserted their independence, by a solemn 
treaty formed at Utrecht, on the 23d of January, 1,579; by which it 
was agreed that they should defend their liberties as one united 
republic ; that they should jointly determine in matters of peace and 
war, establish a general legislative authority, and maintain a liberty 
of conscience in matters of reUgion. These seven united provinces 
are, Guolderland, Holland, Zealand, Friesland, Utrecht, Overyssel, 
and Groningen. William prince of Orange \vas declared their chief 
n..igisti»!ite, general, and admiral, by the title of' Stadtholder. 

5. Philip vented his indignation by a proscription of the prince of 
Orange, oflering 25,000 crowns lor his head ; and he compassed his 
revenge; for this illustrious man was cut off by an assassin in 1,504. 
His son Maurice was elected stadtholder in his room, and sustained 
his important office with great courage and ability. With a slender 
;u(l from Elizabeth of England, who delighted to traverse the plans of 
Philip, this infant commonwealth acconipli'^hed and secured its inde- 
pendence, which it maintained till its recent subjugation. 

(J. The other ten provitices, whose discontents were expressed 
only by murmur and complaint, were soothed by a new charter from 
Philip conlirming their privileges; while at the same time he took 
every possible measure to prevent any attempt on their part to 
throw off the yoke. 



1^ MODERN HISTORY. 



SECTION LII. 

©r THE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED 
PROVINCES. 

1 . Tire treaty of confederation of the Seven United Provinces-, 
framed in 1,579, and solemnly renewed in 1,583, is declared to be, 
by its nature, indissoluble. Each province thereby preserved its 
own laws, magistrates, sovereignty, and independence. They form, 
however, one body poUtic, having renounced the right of making 
separate alliances or treaties, and established a general council, with 
power of assembling the states, and regulating the common affairs of 
the repviblic. The assembly of the states-general was originally held 
only twice a year, but became afterwards a perpetual council.., 

2. In all matters which regard not the general interest oTlhe na- 
tion, each of the states or provinces is in itself a republic, governed 
by its own laws and magistrates, and posses>iug a supreme legislative 
authority. The deputies from each of the towns form the council of 
the province, in which is vested its separate government ; and these 
deputies are regulated by the instructions of their constituents. The 
votes of the majority of deputies decide in the provincial council in 
all matters which regard not the general interest of the nation. 

3. The great council of the states-general always met in assembly 
at the ilague, and is composed of the deputies from the seven prov- 
inces, of which Holland sends three, Zealand and Utrecht two, and 
the others one ; each deputy being regulated by the council oi his 
province. A majority of voices is here decisive, unless in the great 
questions of peace, war, and alliance, in which unanimity is requisite. 
The disadvantage of this constitution is the delay and dithculty in 
the execution ot public measures. All the towns and all the nobles 
of a province must deliberate and instruct their deputy, before the 
states-general can take the matter under consideration. This great 
defect b partly corrected by the power and influence of the stadt- 
holder. 

4. The stadtholder is commander in chief of the sea and land 
forces, and disposes ot all the military employments. He presides 
over all the courts of justice, and has the power of pardoning crimes. 
He appoints the magistrates of the towns, from a list made by them- 
selves; receives iuid names ambassadors, and is charged with the ex- 
ecution <•? the laws. He is supreme arbiter in all difterences between 
the pro\iiiCfS, cities, or other members of the state. 

5. William, the first stadtholder, did not abuse these liigh powers ; 
nor did his successors, Maurice and Henry-l rederick. But under 
Vviiliam 11. the slatt-s became jealous of an exorbitant authority in 
their chief magistrate, and on bis death the oflico was for .some time 
abolished. In that interval the republic was almost annihilated by 
the arms of Lewis XIV.; and, sensible of tlieir error, they restored 
the office of stadtholder in the person of Wiilicim III., who retrieved 
the fortunes and honour of his country. In gratitude tor his services, 
the dignity w;us made hereditary in his family, a solecism hi the gov- 
ernment of a republic On the death of William without issue, the 
ofhce was once more abolished for twenty years, when it was again 
resur'd, doclMx-d iiereditary in the family cf Orange, and descendi- 
ble even to the issue of a daughter. The only restrictions are, that 



MODERN HISTORY. 197 

the succeeding prince siiall be of the protestant religion, and neither 
king nor elector of the German empire. 



SECTION LIU. 
REIGN ON PHILIP II. CONTINUED. 

1 . The loss of the Netherlands was in some degree compensated 
to Philip II. by the acquisition of the kingdom of rortugal. Muley 
Mahomet, king of Fez and Morocco, dethroned by his uncle Muley 
Moluc, solicited the aid of don Sebastian king of rortugal to regain 
his throne. Sebastian landed with an army in Africa, but was de- - 
feated by the Moors and slain ; and the contending Moorish princes 
perishea in the same engagement. Sebastian was succeeded by iiis 
grand-uncle don Henry, who died after a reign of two years. The 
competitors for the crown were don Antonio prior of Crato, and 
Philip II., paternal and maternal uncles of the last sovereign. Philip 
defeated his rival in a decisive engagement at sea, and, without fur- 
ther opposition, took possession ot the throne of Portugal, 1,580. 

2. EUzabeth of England had warmly espoused the cause of the 
revolted Netherlands, and her admiral sir 1* rancis Drake had taken 
some of tlie Spanish settlements in America. To avenge tiiese in- 
juries, the invincible armada, of 150 ships of war, 27,000 men, and 
.i,000 pieces of cannon, was equipped by Philip for the invasion of 
England.'', The English fleet, of 108 ships, attacked them in the 
night, and burnt and destroyed a great part of the squadron. A 
storm, which drove them on the rocks and sands of Zealand, com- 
pleted their discomfiture, and only 50 shattered vessels, with 6,000 
men returned to Spain, 1,588. 



3. The restless snirit of Philip II. wa.s engaged at the same time in 
the reduction of tlie Netherlands, the project for the invasion of 
England, and the dismembering of the kingdom of France. The 



last scheme was as ineffectual as the two former. It was defeated at 
once by the convci-sion of Henry IV. to the catholic religion. The 
policy of Philip had nothing in it great or generous. His restless 
ambition was litte^l to embroil Europe ; but he had not the judgment 
to turn the distresses which he occasioned to his own advantage. 
In bis own kijicdoms, as in his domestic life, het^vas a gloomy and in- 
human tyrant?^ Vet, Irom the variety and magnitude of his designs, 
the power by'which they wf re suj)ported, and the splendour of his 
dominion, the character of Spain was high and respectable in the 
scale of the nations of Europe. 



SECTION LIV. 

STATE OF FRANCE IN THE END OF THE SIXTEENTH CEN- 
TURY ; UNDER HENRY II., FRANCIS II., CHARLES IX., HENRY 
III., AND HENRY IV- 

1. TuE reformed religion had made the greater progress in 
France froni the impolitic persecution which it sustained from 
Henry II., the son and successor o(' Francis I., who, though he aided 
the protestants of Germany in resisting the despotism of Charles V,, 
showed no mercy to their brethren in his own kingdom. 



198 MODERN HISTORY. 

2. On the death of Heni-y II. the conspiracy of Amboise was plan- 
ned oy the prince of Conde, for the destruction of the duiie of Guise, 
who ruled tue kingdom under Francis II., and to whose intolerance 
and cruelty the protestants attributed all their calamities. Guise 
owed his ascendancy chiefly to the marriage of his niece, Mary 
queen of Scots with' the young monarch ; and the detection of this 
conspiracy, the massacre of its principal leaders, and the barbarous 
punislunent of aii who partook in it, while they conhrmed his power, 
served, only to increase the rancour of the contending parties. 

3. Francis II. died after a reign of one year, 1,560, and was suc- 
ceeded by his brother Charles IX., a boy of ten years of age. The 
queen-motiier, Catharine de Medicis, who had no other principle but 
flie love of power, was equally jealous of the influence of the 
Condes and the Guises. An ecclesiastical assembly, held by her de- 
sire at Poissy, gave toleration to the protestants to exercise their 
woi'ship through all France, without the walls of the tovvas. The 
zeal or the imprudence of the duke of Guise infringed this ordinance, 
and botii parties flew to arms. The admiral Coligni commanded the 
troops of tlie protestants, who were aided by 10,000 Germans from 
the i^alatinate. Philip of Spain, to increase the disorders, sent an 
army to the aid of the catholics. 

4. The horrors of civil war were aggravated by murders and 
assassinations. The duke of Guise was the victim of the frantic zeal 
of an enthusiast. After many desperate engagements, with various 
success, a treacherous peace was agreed to by the catholics; and 
Coiigni, with the chiefs of the protestant party, were invited to 
court, and received by the queen-mother and her son with the most 
extraordinary marks of favour: among the rest Henry of Navarre, 
to whom the young monarch had given his sister in marriage. Such 
were the preparatives to the infernal massacre of St. Bartholomew. 
On the night of the 2od of August, 1,572, at the ringing of the matin 
bell, the catholics made a general massacre of all the protestants 
throughout the kingdom of France. Charles IX., % monster of 
cruelty assisted in the murder of his own subjects. 

5. Amid those horrors Henry duke of Anjou, brother of Charles 
IX., was elected king of Poland ; but had scarcely taken possession 
of nis throne, when he was called to that of France by the death 
of its execrable sovereign, 1,574. The weakness of the new mon- 
arch, Henry 111., was unht to compose the disordei-s of the kingdom. 
Equally bigoted and profligate, he became the scorn of his subjects, 
and the dupe of the contending factions. j 

6. The protestant party was now supported by the prince of 
Conde and young Henry of Navarre, descended from Robert of 
Bourbon, a younger son of Lewis IX. The duke of Alencon, the 
king's brother, had likewise joined their party. The catholics, to 
accumulate their strength, formed a bond of union, termed the league, 
nominally for delence of the state and its religion, but in reality for 
usurping all the powers of government, and suppressing the protes- 
tant lailh. Of this dangerous association Henry III., with the weakest 
policy, declared himself the head, and thus the avowed enemy of 
one half of his subjects. He saw his error when too late, and, 
dreading the designs of the duke of Guise, and his brother the cardinal 
of Lorraine, whose authority had superseded his own, he basely rid 
himselt" of his fears by procuring their assassination. This vicious 
and contemptible tyrajit, at'ter a reign of lifteen years, was assassiiiated 



MODERN HISTORY. m 

by Jaques Clement, a jacobin monk, from tlie frenzy of fanaticism, 

1,589. 

7. The next heir of the crown was Henry of Navarre, who had 
been educated a protestant by his mother, tlie daughter of Henry 
d' Albert king of Navarre. At the age of sixteen he had been declared 
head of the party of the Huguenots ; his uncle the prince of Conde 
and the admiral Coligni acting us his lieutenants. His first military 
enterprises were unsuccessful. Invited to Paris, at the peace of 
1,572, to marry the sister of Charles IX., he narrowly escaped from 
the massacre of St. Bartholomew, but remained three years a prison- 
er. On the death of Charles he again took the tield against the 
army of the league, which he defeated in the battle of Coutras, 
1,587, and still more signally in that of Arques, 1,589. After the 
death of Henry III., he won the celebrated baitte of Ivry ; and, 
being acknowledged sovereign of France by all but the party of the 
league, than in possession of Paris, he laid siege to the city, which 
must have capitulated if Philip 11. had not sent succours. Religion was 
the sole cause of the disunion of France, and the only obstacle to 
the acknowledgment of Henry''s title by the greater part of his sub- 
jects. By the earnest persuasion of Rosni (duke of Sully), a protes- 
tant, Henry was prevailed on to declare himself a catholic. He ab- 
jured at St. Denis, and was crowned king at Chartrcs, 1,594. He 
soon after took possession of Paris ; but it took him several years, 
both of war and negotiation, before he gained th'- whole of his king- 
dom, exhausted as it was, and ruined by civil discord. 

8. The subsequent life of this excellent prince was devoted to the 
reparation of those misfortunes. After forcing Philip 11. to conclude 
the advantageous peace of V'ervins^ 1,598, his whole attention was 
bestowed on the improvement of his kingdom, by retbrming its laws, 
regulating its finances, encouraging agriculture and manufactures, 
enlarging and embellishing the cities, and linally by successfully 
reconcihng the partisans of the contending religions. In all his bene- 
ficial schemes, he found an able assistant in his minister the duke of 
Sully, who has beautifully depicted the life and character of his mas- 
ter. In his memoirs we see not only the great designs, but the pri- 
vate virtues, the engaging and amiable mannei's of this illustrious 
man, who, while he was the arbiter of the contending powers of 
Europe, was the indulgent father of a happy people. 

9. The period of the splendour and happiness of, France was of 
short duration. ,Henry IV., worthy to be immortal, was assjissinated 
at the age of fifty-seven. May 4, l,ljl0, by Ravaillac, an insane tiuiat- 
ic. At the time of his death, he meditated the great project of a 

\perpetual peace between the states of Europe, a design highly char- 
acteristic of the benevolent mind of its author. But the weaknesses of 
mankind, and the impossibility of reasoning with nations as with wise 
individuals, must certainly have rendered this design impracticable at 
that periocl. 



SECTION LV. 

HISTORY OF ENGLAND AND OF SCOTLAND IN THE REIGNS 
OF ELIZABETH AND MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. 

! 1. Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII., b^ Anna BuUen, sucxeeded 
to the throne on the death of her sister Mary, 1,558; and Englamt 



200 MODERN HISTORY. 

attained a high degree of splendour, under the rule of this great and 
politic princess, whose talents enahled her to pursue the true interests 
of her people, while her vigorous and intrepid mind led her to take 
an important part in maintaining the halance of power in Europe. 
While she encouraged at home every useful art and manufacture, 
she colonized a great part of North America, supported the infant 
republic of Holland against its tyrannical enemy, humbled the pride, 
of Spain in the defeat of its invincible armada, and assisted Henry IV.., 
in the recovery of his kingdom. It was her fortune to have the aid 
of most abie ministers, and her merit to place her confidence in their 
counsels. 

2. If Elizabeth had been equally endowed with the virtues of the 
heart as with the powers of the mind, she would have shone the 
most illustrious character in the annals of modern Europe. Her 
conduct to her cousin Mary queen of Scots has tixed an indehble 
stain on her character. Mary, the daughter of James V., and great 
grand-daughter of Henry Vll., educated in France, and married, 
when very young, to the dauphin, afterwards Francis 11., had im- 
prudently assumed the arms and title of queen of tlngland, by the 
persuasion of her maternal uncles the Guises. The pretence was 
the illegitimacy of Elizabeth, declared by Henry Vlll., on his divorce 
from Anna BuUen. This lalse step laid the foundation of all the 
miseries of the queen of Scots. 

3. The reformation was at this time going forward in Scotland 
with the most ardent zeal. The earls of Argyle, Morton, Glencairn, 
and others, its chief promoters, had, by their own authority, suppress- 
ed the worship of the mass over a great part of the kingdom. 
The catholic bishops^ by an ill-judged persecution of the reformers, 
greatly increased the number of their proselytes. They began to 
muster their strength, and, headed by John Knox, a disciple of Cal- 
vin, a virtuous man, but of the most furious and intemperate zeal, 
threw down the altars and images, expelled the priests, and demol- 
ished the churches and monasteries. The protestants were now 
acting in arms, and in open defiance of government ; and the queen- 
mother, Mary of Guise, attempted, by the aid of French troops, to 
reduce her subjects to submission. They applied for aid to Elizabeth 
the protestant queen of England, who sent an army and a fleet to their 
assistance. The death of the queen-mother was followed by a capit- 
ulation, by which it was agreed that the French should evacuate 
Scotland, and that Mary should renounce all pretension to the crown of 
England. The protestant religion, under presbyterian forms, was 
now established in the room of the catholic. 

5. In this situation of Scotland, Mary, at the age of eighteen, on 
the death of her mother, and of her husband Francis II., returned 
to her hereditary kingdom ; having fortunately escaped an English 
rieet, which Ehzabeth had despatched to take her prisoner on her 
passage. Her misfortunes began from that hour. Her protestant 
subjects regarded their catholic queen with abhorrence, and looked 
up to her enemy Elizabeth as their support and defender. That 
artful princess had secured to her interest the very men on whom 
the unsuspecting Mary placed her utmost confidence, her bastard 
brother the earl of Murray, the earl of Morton, and secretary Leth- 
ington. The views of Murray aimed at nothing less than his sister's 
crown, and the obstacles which opposed his criminal ambition served 
only to render his attempts more daring and flagitious. 

5. The marriage of Mary with her cousin lord Damley, son of the 



MODERN HISTORY. 201 

earl of Lennox, who stood in the same relation to Elizaoeth, was not 
agreeahle to that princess. Encouraged by Elizabeth's ministers, 
mndolph and Cecil, Murray formed a conspiracy to seize and impris- 
on Mary, to put to death her husband, and usurp the government ; 
and on the detection of his designs, attempted to support them by 
open rebellion. Defeated, exiled, pardoned, and loaded with benelits 
by his injured sovereign, he persevered in the same atrocious pur- 
poses, till he at length accomplished them. 

6. The spouse oi Mary had incurred her resentment by his vices 
and follies. Taking advantage of the weakness of his mind, Mur- 
ray, Morton, and Lethington, had rendered him jealous of the par- 
tiality of Mary for her foreign secretary, the aged Rizzio, and en- 
gaged him in the barbarous act of murdering this ill-fated wretch 
at the feet of the queen, to whose garments he clung for protection. 
The purpose of this shocking outrage was to procure the abortion 
of Mary, then big with child, and possibly her death ; or, if she 
should survive, to alienate completely her aflfections from her hus- 
band, and thus to render her suspected of the design which they 
had projected of cutting him ofl' by assassination. In the latter pur- 
pose they succeeded. 1 he house which Darnley inhabited was blown 
up by gunpowder : his body was found strangled near the place, and 
a report immediately prevailed, that Mary had been accessory to his 
murder. 

7. A most imprudent step, to which she was conducted by the 
same band of traitors, gave countenance to this suspicion. At the 
earnest recommendation of Morton and some of her chi<^f nobility, 
she married the earl of Bothwell, a man openly stigmatized as one 
of the murderers of her husband. He had, it is true, been absolved 
on trial for that crime, and had by force made himself master of her 
person. The plans of Murray and his associates, successful to the 
utmost of their wishes, were now ripe for consummation. On the 

Eretext of the queen's guilt of murder and adultery, she was confined 
y Murray in the castle of Lochleven, and there compelled to resign 
her crown into the hands of her unnatural brother, who was'to govern 
the kingdom as regent during the minority of her infant son, now 
i proclaimed king by the title of James VI., 1,567. Bothwell escaped 
j beyond sea, and died in Denmark. 

i 3. A great part of the nation reprobated those infamous proceed- 
j ings. Mary escaped from her conhnement, and at the head of an 
! army gave battle to the rebels at Langside ; but, being defeated, she 
fled for shelter to the north of England. Elizabeth, who had secretly 
! encouraged all the machinations of her enemies, had now gained a 
[ great object of her ambition ; she had in her hands a hated rival, and, 
I by her support of Murray and his party, the absolute commimd of 
I the kingdom of Scotland. Yet policy required some show of 
j friendship and humanity to the queen of Scots, who claimed, as a 
I suppliant, her protection and aid. She professed her desire to do 
I her justice, but first required that she should clear herself of the 
I crimes alleged against her. To this Mary agreed, with the intrepid- 
ji ity of conscious innocence. In a conference held for that purpose, 
I Murray openly stood Ibrth as the accuser of his sister and queen, 
I appealing to certain letters said to have been written by her to Both- 
1 well, plainly intimating her guilt. Copies of these letters were pro- 
duced. Mary demanded the originals, boldly declaring them to be 
the forgeries of her enemies ; but they were never produced. She 
I retorted on Murray and Morton the charge of Darnley 's murder; 



202 MODERN HISTORY, 

and the conference was broken off at the command of the queen of 
England, who detanied Mary in close imprisonment. , . . ^, 

9 The ungenerous policy ot Elizabeth was condemned by her 
own subiects The duke of Norfolk, the first ol her nobihty, and, 
though a protestant, fovoured by the catholic party in England, 
secretly projected to marry the queen of Scots. The ; '^covery of 
his viewl^ hiving given alarm to EUzabeth, brougbt that ill-iated 
nobleman to the block, and hastened the doom ol the uiitortunate 
Mary Worn out with the miseries ot her continement, she private- 
ly solicited the aid of foreign princes for her deliverance. Her 
cause was espoused by all the catholics ol I-.iigland ; and some olthe 
most intemperate of these had formed a pk>t to deliver her Irom 
captivity, and to place her on the throne, by the murder ot Eliza- 
beth This dangerous conspiracy was discovered, and its authors 
deservedly suffered death. The schemes of Mary lor her own de- 
liverance were held presumptive of her acquiescence in the whole of 
the plot. Though an independent sovereign, she was brought to 
trial before a foreign tribunal which had already «lecreed her tate ; 
and, being condemned to suffer death, she was beheaded at Fother^ 
ingay castle, 1,587, in the Ibrty-tifth year of her age, and the nine- 
teenth of her captivity in England. Previously to this event, Murray 
had fallen the victim of the private revenge of a gentleman whom he 
had injured ; Lethington poisoned himself in prison, to escape the 
sentence of his enemies; and Morton, some time regent of the king- 
dom, was afterwards tried and sulVered death tor his concern in the 
murder of Darnley. 

10. We have mentioned the formidable preparations ot Philip ll. 
for the inviision of England, and their disastrous issue in tho total 
destruction of the invincible armada. Tiie English, in their turn, 
made descents on the Spanish coasts ; and the glory of the nation 
was nobly sustained by those great admirals, Kaieigh, Howard. 
Drake, C;\vendish, and Hawkins. The earl of Essex distinguished 
himself in those expeditions, and won the favour of Elizabeth, both 
by his prowess and personal accomplisjunents. The death of Lei- 
cester, iier former favourite, and of her mini<ter BurlL-igh left E^sex 
unrivalled in her affections, and of chief authority in the direction of 
her councils. Haughty, and impatient of control, he disgusted the 
nobles; and his failure in quelhng a rebellion in Ireland gave them 
ground to undermine him in the favour of his sovereign, in the mad- 
ness of inordinate ambition, he proposed to possess himstdf of the 
person of the queen, and compel her to remove his enemies, and 
acquiesce in all his measures. This treasonable enterprise brought 
him to the scaffold, 1,6UU. 

11. From that time Elizabeth fell into profound melancholy, and soon 
after died in the seventieth year of her age, l,Gtt3, having named for 
her successor James VI. of Scotland. Her talents were great, and 
the linnness of her mind was unequalled; but her pri\ate char- 
acter was tarnished by cruelty, hy()ocrisy, and an insatiable desire 
of admiration. Her maxims of government were despotic, and she 
had little regard for the liberties of her people, or the privileges of 
her parliaments, to whom she never allowed the liberty of disputing 
her commands. The actual government of England in those days 
was little different from an absolute monarchy. 



MODERN HISTORY. -203 



SECTION LVI. 

HISTOR.Y OF GREAT BRITAIN IN THE REIGNS OF JAMES I. 
AND CHARLES I. 

1. Jamfs VI. of Scotlantl succeeded by hereditary right to the 
throne of England, thus uniting the two crowns ; a prince of consid- 
erable learning and talents, but of little vigour of mind or political 
energy. He became unpopular from his notions of an uncontrollable 

Ererogative, to which unwisely proclaiming his title, he provoked 
is subjects to question it. .' The current of public opinion was now 
strongly turned to an extension of the rights of the subject, and to a 
retrenchment of the powers of the crown ; and during this roign the 
seeds were sown of that spirit of resistance on the part of the peo- 
ple, which was destined in the next to overturn the constitution. 

ii. Domestic events were such as chietiy distinguished the reign 
of James 1. A conspiracy was discovered in l,(jU3 for subverting 
the government, and placing the king's cousin, Arabella Stuart, on 
the throne, in which the lords Cobham and Grey, and Sir Walter lia- 
leigh were principally concerned. 'I'he two former were pardoned, 
an(l Kaleigh was condemned, but reprieved. On the ground of Ids 
infringement of the peace with Spain, by unwarrantably attacking 
one of her American settlements, he was beheaded on Ids former 
sentence, after an interval of fifteen years. 

:l .Another conspiracy followed, of a still more dangerous nature, 
the gunpowder treason ; a p-iot of the catholics to destmy at one 
blow the king and the whole body of the parliament, 1,G04. It was 
discovered from a circumstance ot' i)rivate Iriendsbij), on the \ery 
eve of its acco[npli>-lirnet)t; and the principal conspirators suffered 
cai)ital punishment. 'I'he public indignation now raged again-t the 
catholics; and the humanity ot' James, which sought to mitigate this 
iury, was as ungenerously as absurdly construed hito a favour which 
he entertained for their religious principles. 

4. It was a peculiar weakness of the king to attach himself to 

undeserving favourites. Such was Carre earl of Somerset, who had 

t no other recommendation but a handsome person, and who, alier 

I several years' exercise ol all the insolence of power, fell into dis- 

I grace, on conviction of his concern in an infamous murder. His 

place was supplied by \ illiers, afterwards duke of Huckinghr.m, a 

n)an devoid of evpry talent of a minister and o<lious to all ranks 

of the state. He planned a journev of Charles prince of Wales into 

; Spain to court the inliuita, and by his folly and insolence frustrated 

the treaty on the brink of its conclusion. 

b. Elizabeth, the daughter of James, was married to the protestant 
elector Palatine, who was dispossessed olhis el(>ctorate by tlie empe- 
tror Ferdinand II., tor imprudently accepting the crown of Bolieniia, 
]till then an appanage oi the empire. .lames was urged by parlia- 
ment to a war in defence of bis son-in-law, which touched the nation 
both as a point of honour and as the cause of the protestant interest. 
He sent a feeble annament, which was of no service, the onlv mili- 
tary enterprise of his reign. His favourite project was a coinnlele 
union of the kingdoms of England and .'Scotland;' a nlfasnre which, 
however beneficial, the mutual prejudices of tlie two nations wei-e as 



204 MODERN HISTORY. 

yet too violent to bear. As a preparatory step, tne episcopal hie- 
rarchy was introduced into Scotland ; but this served only as the in- 
centive of future commotions. James I. died in 1625, in the 59th 
year of his age, and the 22d of his reign over England. 

6. On an impartial estimate of the character of the succeeding 
monarch, Charles I., it may be allowed, that this unfortunate prince 
would have reigned with high popularity, if the nation in his reign 
had entertained the same opinions of the regal prerogative, of the 
powers of parliament, and of the hberty of the subject, which had 
prevailed for the two preceding centuries. But it was his lot to 
mount the throne at that critical period when the public opinion had 
undergone an entire revolution on those topics; and, with many ex- 
cellent endowments both of head and heart, he wanted that poUtical 
prudence which should have taught him to yield to the necessity of 
the times. 

7. Charles was offended with his first parliament, on their refusal 
of adequate supplies for the war in support of his brother-in-law, the 
elector Palatine. Engaged to his allies, the king, dissolving the par- 
liament, issued warrants for borrowing money ol the subject. A new 
parliament was found equally uncomplying, and evinced its jealousy 
of the king by the impeachin'-nt of his minister, Buckingham. Charles 
avenged the insult by imprisoning two members of the house of com- 
mons. A dissension thus begun was conthiually aggravated by new 
causes of offence. The levying of money from the subject was en- 
Ibrced by billeting soldiers on those who refused to lend to the crown ; 
and some were even imprisoned on that account. A war was under- 
taken against France, by Buckingham's instigation, a sufficient cause 
of its unpopularity; and it ended in a fruitless attempt on Rochelle. 
The king again dissolved his parliament, 1,626. 

8. A new parliament exhibited a spirit of determined reformation. 
A Petition, of Right was passed by both houses, which declared the 
illegality ot raising money without their sanction, or of enforcing loans 
from the subject, annulled all taxes imposed without the consent of 
parliament, and abolished the exercise of the martial law ; and Charles 
was obliged, with much reluctance, to give his assent to this great 
retrenchment of prerogatives, sanctioned by the usage of the most 
popular of his predecessors. 

9. The taxes of tonnage and poundage had iisually been continued 
from one reign to another. On this ground the king conceived that 
he was warranted to levy them without a new grant ; and a member 
of the house of commons was imprisoned on refusal to pay them. 
This arbitrary measure excited an outrageous ferment in that assem- 
bly, and the consequence was a new dissolution of the parliament, 
1,629. 

10. It wasopw a measure of necessity to make peace with France 
and Spain. The king persevered in levying the tonnage, poundage, 
and ship-money; and high fines were imposed for various offences, 
without trial, by authority of the star-chamber. The legality of the 
tax of ship-money was disputed by John Hampden, who was con- 
demned by the court of exchequer, contrary, as was generally 
thought, to justice and the laws of the realm. 

11. Those discontents were increased by religious enthusiasm. 
Charles, by the advice of Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, had relax- 
ed the penalties against catholics, and countenanced some innova- 
tions in the ceremonials of church worship, preludes, as they were 
termedj to the popish idolatries. He had likewise imprudently at- 



MODERN HISTORY. Wb 

tempted to introduce the liturgy of the church of England among the 
Scots. These measures excited in Scotland very general discontent, 
and produced the most violent commotion. A bond, termed the jVa- 
lional Covenant^ containing an oath of resistance to all religious inno- 
vations, was subscribed in Scotland by all ranks and conditions ; and 
in a general assembly at Glasgow the episcopal hierarchy was sol- 
emnly abolished, 1,638. To maintain this violent procedure the 
Scots reformers took up arms, and, after seizing and fortifying the 
most important places of strength in the kingdom, boldly marched 
into the heart of England. 

12. It was now absolutely necessary to assemble a parliament, and 
the king at length saw that the torrent was irresistible, and resolved, 
though too late, to yield to it. A bill passed for abolishing the ton- 
nage and poundage without consent of parliament, and received the 
royal assent. Monopolies of every kind were abolished. A parlia- 
ment was agreed to be summoned every third year. Lnsatisjied 
with these concessions, the commons impeached the earl of Strafford, 
the king's first minister, of high treason, together \\iih L;tud, arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, who were charged, as the chief counsellors of 
the crown, with a design of subverting the laws and constitution of 
the realm. The fate of Strafi'ord, whose trial by his peers would 
have terminated in his acquittal, was secured by a bill of attainder, 
to which the king was, with the greatest reluctance, forced to give 
his assent. The commons seized that moment of anguish to ob- 
tain his consent to a decisive measure, a bill which rendered the 
parliament perpetual, by declaring that it should not be dissolved nor 
adjourned except by its own decree, 1,641, Strafford and Laud were 
both beheaded. 

13. This last measure of the commons evinced a determined pur- 
pose to overtuni the constitution. Their proceedings hitherto had 
the show of justice, and most of them might be vindicated on the 
principles of true patriotism. But from this period their conduct 
was treason to their country and its government. The last bill de- 
stroyed the equal balance ol the constitution of England, and every 
subsequent measure was a step towards its annihilation. 

14. The Irish catholics took advantage of those disorders, and, 
with the purpose of assuming the entire command of that kingdom, 
and shaking off its dependence on England, attempted, in one day to 
massacre all the proteslants m IrelancT To extinguish this horrible 
rebellion Charles consigned to the parlirnient the charge of the war, 
which they interpreted into a transit-rence to them of the whole mil- 
itary powers of the crown. Under this authority a great force was 
levied, and supplied with arms from tlie royal magazines. 

1 5. The bishops having complained that their lives were in danger 
from the populace, and having protested against the proceedings of 
the lords in their absence, \vere impeached of treason by the com- 
mons, and committed to the Tower. The patience of Charles « as 
exhausted. He caused five of the commons to be impeached, and 
went in person to the house to seize them; a breach uf the privilege 
of parliament, for which he found it necessary to atone by a humili- 
ating message. 

16. A new bill of the commons, naming tlie commanders of all the 
foriified places, who should be responsible to parliament alone, was 
understood to be a declaration of war. The next step was to assume 
the whole legislative power, by declaring it a breach of privilege to 
dispute the law of the laud promuiged by the lords and commons. 

S 



206 MODERN HISTORY. 

But the lords were merely a name, being entirely under the control 
of the commons. 

17. The sword was now to decide the contest. The royal jcause 
was supported by a great proportion ot' the landed interest, all the 
friends of the established church, and all the catholics in the king- 
dom. On the side of the parliament Avere the city of London and 
most of the greater towns, with all the dissentei* and sectaries.* The 
first campaign was favourable to the royalists, who defeated the par- 
liamentary Ibrces at Worcester and Edgehill, but lost the battle of 
Newbury. 

18. The parliament now entered into a strict confederacy with 
the Scots, both in the articles of politics and religion; and the Solemn 
League and Covenant^ a new bond more specific in its objects than 
the Ibrmer, and more treasonable in its purpose, was framed at Edin- 
burgh, for the purification of both churches, the reformation of both 
kingdoms, the maintenance of the privileges of king and parlia- 
ment, and bringing to justice all malignants. In consequence of this 
confederacy, 2U,UU0 Scots took the field toco-operate with the forces 
of the parliament. 

19. At thL' time Oliver Cromwell commanded a regiment of 
horse under Fairfax, general of the parliament ; but in reality direct- 
ed all the measures of the army. In Scotland the royal cause was 
gallantly sustained by the marquis of Montrose; but all was lost in 
England by the defeat at Naseby, in 1,645. The troops of the roy- 
alists being entirely dispersed, the king threw himself into the hands 
of the Scots, who basely delivered him up to the commissioners of 
parliament, from whom he was taken by Cromwelfs orders, and con- 
ducted to the army, which was now master of the kingdom. Crom- 
well entering London assumed an absolute control over the parlia- 
ment, and imprisoned all who disputed his authority. Charles, escap- 
ing from his confinement, lied to the isle of Wight ; but was there de- 
tained a prisoner in Carisbrook castle. 

20. The parliament, suffering under this military usurpation, were 
now sincerely desirous of terminating a miserable anarchy by a 
treaty with the king, and, after a long negotiation, all terms were 
finally adjusted. Charles agreed to resign to parliament the military 
power, the disposal of all the offices of state, and the right of creat- 
ing peers without the consent of parliament : he agreed to abolish 
the episcopal hierarchy, and to establish the prcsbyterian discipline. 
These concessions the parliament accepted by a majority of suffra- 
ges, and declared them to be a sufficient basis for the settlement of 
the kingdom. Cromwell instantly surrounded the house of commons, 
and, excluding all but his own partisans (about sixty in number), a 
second vote was passed, rescinding the former, and declaring it 
treason in a king to levy war against his parliament. A court of 
jusfice was then appointed to try the king for this act of treason. 
The house of lords, having unanimously rejected this decree, were 
immediately voted, by this junto of independents, to be a useless 
branch of the constitution. 

21. Charles was brought to trial, and, refusing to acknowledge the 
authority of his judges, was condemned to suffer death. He was 
beheaded on the 3Uth of January, 1,649. The arbitrary proceedings 
of this monarch in the beginning of his reign were certainly suffi- 
cient to justify that resistance on the part of the people which at 
length produced its effect, in confining the regal authority within its 
3ust bounds, and securing the rational liberties of tlie subject. But 



MODERN HISTORY. 50t 

from the period when this end was attained, resistance ceased to be 
lawful. Its further operations were criminal in the extreme. The 
subsequent usurpations of the commons can no more be justified on 
any constitutional principle, than the murder of the king can be de-' 
fended on the score of legality, justice, or humanity. 



SECTION LVII. 
THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND. 

1. The parliament of Scotland had taken no part in these latter 
scenes, and had tbrmally protested against the trial of the king. On 
his death they proclaimed Charles II. their sovereign, but on the ex- 
press condition of his signing the covenant, and ratifying their con- 
fession of faith. Ireland recognised him without any conditions. 
Th$ heroic marquis of Montrose landed in the north of Scotland with 
a few" foreign troops, and attempted to reduce the party of the cove- 
nanters, and to establish the legal authority of the king, independent 
of the servile restrictions with which they had fettered it. Being 
attacked by a much superior Ibrce, he was defeated, and betrayea 
into the power of his enemies, who put him to death by the hands 
of the executioner, 1,650; displaying in the circumstances of his 
punishment all the insolence of cruelty which distinguishes revenge 
in the meanest of souls. Charles retired to Scotland, and was obliged, 
however reluctantly, to acquiesce in all the terms that were imposed 
on him. 

2. Cromwell, with 16,000 men, marched into Scotland against the 
royalist covenanters, whom he defeated in the battle of Dunbar. He 
then follo\ved the royal army, which retreated into England, and 
destroyed it in the decisive battle of Worcester, September 3, 1,651. 
Charles lied in disguise through the western and southern counties, 
till he found an opportunity of escaping to France ; and Cromwell 
returned in triumph to London. 

3. The republican parliament formed and executed great designs. 
A war with Holland was most ably maintained on both sides by three 
great naval commanders, Blake, the British admiral, and Van Tromp 
and de Ruyter, the Dutch admirals; but the advantage was greatly 
in favour of the English, who took above 1,600 Dutcli ships. The 
pariiatnent, elated by these successes, justly conceived that, while 
the nation v»'as thus powerful at sea, the army was an unnecessary bur- 
den, and determined to reduce it. To prevent this measure, Crom- 
well tVameil a remonstrance of the army, demanding the election of 
a new parUnment. 'I'liis remonstrance being disregarded, he entered 
the bouse of commons, which he hati surrounded with his troops, and 
declaiing the parlianient dissolved by his authority, forcibly tumed 
the members out of doors. The republic of England, which hatl 
subsisted four years and three months, was thus annihilated in one 
moment, April 20, 1,65^5. 

4. It was necessary, however, that there should be the appearance 
of a parliament. A few mean persons, of fanatical character, were 
chosen by CromwelTs partisans, from the diflerent counties of Eng- 
land, with five from Scotland, and six from Ireland, to hold their func- 
tion for hfteeen months. This assembly, termed Barcbonc's parlia- 
vient, from its leading member, a leather-seller, became the scorn of 
the public, and was dissolved, by its own vote, after five months. 



208 MODERN HISTORl. 

5. The government was now vested in the council of officers^ 
who nominated Oliver Cromwell lord protector of the three king- 
doms, invested him with the power of making peace, war, and alli- 
ance, and authorized a standing army of 30,000 men to be kept up 
for the support of government. His administration was despotic, 
vigorous, and spirited. He maintained the honour of the nation in 
the war with the Dutch, compelling them to yield the honour of the 
{lag, and to compensate to the India company all its losses. lie was 
successful likewise in his negotiations with France and Spain. But 
In his domestic government he was traversed by his parliaments, 
whom it cost him a continual struggle, and even violence, to keep in 
order. One parliament, properly prepared, voted him the regal 
title, which, by the council ot his best friends, he was forced, most 
unwillingly, to refuse. In recompense of this self-denial, the parlia- 
ment conhrmed his title of protector, with a fixed revenue, and de- 
creed his right of appointing a successor. He was king in all but 
the name. 

6. By consent of parliament Cromwell appointed a house of lords; 
but all the ancient peers declined the proffered honour. He was 
forced to choose peers from the commons ; and thus he lost the ma- 
jority in the lower house. His temper soured with disappointment, 
a prey to chagrin, and in continual fear of assassination, he fell at 
length into a mortal disease, and died in the fifty-ninth year of his age, 
September 3, 1,658. 

7. Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver, succeeded to the protectorate 
by his father's appointment. He was a man of weak understanding 
and facile temper, utterly unfit for his hazardous situation, which 
accordingly he maintained only for a few months, resigning his otfice 
on the 22d of April, 1,659. His brother Henry, viceroy of Ireland, 
immediately followed his example. The family of the Cromwells, 
which the talents of one man had elevated above the sovereigns of 
their country, returned to its original obscurity. 

8. The remains of that nominal parliament which had put the king 
to death, termed, in derision, the nimp^ was now dissolved by the 
council of officers. Of these every aspiring individual had his own 
separate views of ambition. Intrigue, cabal, and anarchy, were univer- 
sal; and the nation, looking forward with horror to a series of calam- 
ities, began earnestly to desire the restitution of its ancient govern- 
m.'nt. George Monk, commander of the army in Scotland, judged 
those symptoms favourable for restoring the exiled monarch to the 
throne of his ancestors. Marching his army into England, he declar- 
ed his resolution to bring about the election of a free parliament, 
which all men knew to be synonymous with the restoration of the 
king. It was of course violently opposed by the republican party, 
who even attempted to excite a new civil war; but they were forced 
at length to acquiesce in the measure. A free parliament was assem- 
bled, and a message was presented from Cliarles, offering a full in- 
demnity, complete liberty of conscience, and payment of all arrears 
to the army. The message was received with transports oi joy, and 
Charles II. was proclaimed kiqg on the 29th day of May, 1,660. 



MODERN HISTORY. 2Q& 

SECTION LVIII. 

THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II. AND JAMES II. 

1. The nation, without imposing any terms on their new sove- 
reign, trusted implicitly to his good dispositions. Charles was humane 
and complacent, but indolent, luxurious, and prodigal ; and tlierefore 
was neither able to support the national honour abroad, nor to com- 
mand obedience and respect to his domestic government. The sale 
of Dunkirk was a measure oflfensive to the pride of the nation. A « 
war with Holland, supported at a vast expense, and maintained iu 
many desperate but indecisive engagements, was attended tinally 
with no material benefit. By tiie treaty of Breda, concluded in l,tlG7, 
New York was secured to the English, the isle of Polerone to the 
Dutch, and Acadia in North America to the French. 

2. The sale of Dunkirk, and the unsuccessful issue of the war, 
attributed to the counsel of tlie earl of Clarendon, procured the dis- 
grace and banishment of that illustrious man, 1,667. The peace was 
scarcely concluded with Holland, when England joined with her and 
Sweden in a triple alliance, to oppose the progress of the arras of 
Lewis XIV. in the Low Countries; and that object being attain<'d by 
the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1,668, the French monarch gained 
the English over to his interest iu a new war against the Dutch, 
which brought their republic to the brink of destruction. 

3. The domestic administration of Charles was emI)roiled i'vom 
various causes, originating in the personal character and dispositions 
of the sovereign. He trusted to profligate and worthless counsellors. 
His arbitrary notions of government, and the partiality which lie 
showed to the catholics, gave perpetual alarm and uneasiness to a 
great proportion of his subjects. Complaints resounded from every 
quarter; and the parliament required a test-oath, abjuring popery, 
from all persons in public employment. On refusal to take this cath, 
the king's brother, James duke of York, was deprived of his ollice 
of high admiral. 

4. Titus Oates, a worthless impostor, pretended to have discov- 
ered a plot of the catholics for assassinating the king, burning Lon- 
don, massacring the protestants, and placing the duke of York on 
the throne. Another villain, named Bedloe, joined his evidence 
to that of Oates; and on their perjured testimony, afterward fuily 
exposed, a few miserable priests sufliered death. A new test was 
imposed, which excluded all papists from both houses of parliament. 
The treasurer Danby was impeached for advising the last peace with 
France, though it was proved that he had acted b}' his sovereign's 
orders ; and a bill passed the house of commons, excluding the duke 
of York from the succession to the crown. A more important bill 
for the general liberty, the act of habeas corpus was the woi'k of the 
same session of parliament. (Sect, LIX., § 14.) 

5. The distinguishing epithets of -jchig and ton/ were now first 
known ; the former, the opposers of the crown, against the latter, 
its partisans ; and each party, as in all factions, carried its principles 
to an exti'eme. The whigs, predominant in the next paiiiament, 
raged with fury against the catholics, isnd insisted on the king's assent 
to the bill for the exclusion of his brother. His only expedient vfaa 
to dissolve the parliament, but he found their successors equally v.lor 
S2 27 



210 MODERN HISTORY. 

lent. After various fruitless attempts to conciliate their favour to his 
measures, a di^soiulion of this parliament ensued, the last which 
Charles assembled. 

6. But the great cause of dissatisfaction remained. The duke of 
York vvas at tiie bottom of all the measures of government. A con- 
spiracy was formed by Shaftesbury, Ilussel, Sydney, and the duke of 
Moiimouth, natural son of the king, on the pretence of vindicating 
the national liberties. It was discovered by one of the associates, 
aiid Russel and Sydney suffered capital punishment. The detection 
of this conspiracy strengthened the authority of the sovereign. The 
duke of York was restoi-ed to his otfice of high admiral, and tacitly 
acknowledged as the successor to the crown. Charles II. died on 
the ulh of February, 1,68.5, in the 55th year of his age, and the 25th 
of his reign. 

7. Tlie duke of York succeeded to the throne by the title of 
James 11, 11 is reign was short and inglorious. He was the instru- 
ment of his own misfortunes, and ran headlong to destruction. The 
catholics at this time were not the hundredth part of the nation, 
yet James was weak enough to make the desperate attempt of sub- 
stiiuting the popish faith in room of the prot'^stant. Discarding the 
nobility from his councils, he was directed solely by liomish priests. 
In the very outset of his reign he expressed his contempt of the au- 
thority of parliament, and a tirm purpose to exercise an unlimited 
despotism. 

8. The duke of Monmouth, having excited a new rebellion, was 
defeated, made prisoner, and beheaded ; and the most inhuman 
rigour was exercised in the punishment of all his partisans. The 
parliament was in general submissive to the king's will, which for a 
wliiie met with no opposition nor control. A declaration was pub- 
lished, establisliing full liberty of conscience in matters of religion ; 
and several bishops, who refused to publish it in their dioccsses, 
were committed to prison. A catholic president was appointed to 
one of the colleges at Oxford. An ambassador was sent to the pope, 
and a papal nuncio received in London. The catholics openly boast- 
ed tiiat theirs would soon be the religion of the stale. 

t). .Jam.'s had three children; Mary, the wife of the stadtholder 
Wiliiim prince of Orange ; Anne, married to prince George of Den- 
m.i'k; and James, an infant. The stadtholder had considered his 
rigiii to ilie crown of England as certain before the birth of this 
inlimt, and, after that event, projected still to gain it by arms or in- 
trigue ; the infatuation of the king and the general discontent of the 
people giving him the most flattering invitation. James vvas inform- 
ed of those views of his son-in-law, but would give them no credit, 
till actually apprized of his landing with an army, November loth, 
1,688. 

10. The principal nobility and officers immediately joined the 
standard of the prince of Orange; and James was at once abandoned 
by his people, ministers, favourites, and bis own children. Leav ing 
London in disguise, he was discovered and brought back by the pop- 
ulace ; but the prince of Orange wisely fivoured his escape, and he 
Ibund means a few days after, to convey hiniseh" to France. 

11. The throne being declared vacant, it was proposed in a con- 
vention-parliament, that the crown should be settled on the princess 
Mary and her issue, her husband governing as regent, whom failing, 
on the princess Anne. The stadtholder declining the.oilice of regent, 
it iras ftnaliy resolved to confer the crovvn on the prince and prin- 



MODERN HISTORY. 211 

cess of Orange^,'the fonner to have the sole administration of the 
government. 

1 2. To this settlement was added a declaration fixing the rights of 
the subject and the royal prerogative. Of this the most important 
articles are the following. The king cannot suspend the laws, nor 
their execution ; he cannot levy money without consent of parlia- 
ment ; the subji!cts have right to petition the crown ; a standing 
army cannot be kept np in time of peace but by consent of parlia- 
ment ; elections and parliamentary debate must be free, and parlia- 
ments must be frequently assembled, &c. Such was the tinal settle- 
ment ol the British government at the great era of the revolution. 
At this period, when the constitution became fixed and determined, 
we finish the sketch of the history of our own country. 

■■sy 

SECTION LIX. 

ON THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION. 

1. The rudiments of the constitution of England may be traced as 
far back as the Norman conquest. William distril)uted a great pro- 
portion of the lands among his Norman followers, subjecting these, 
as well as the Anglo-Saxons who retained their property to the feu- 
dal tenures, and thus extinguishing at once the ancient lilierties of the 
people. England was divided into 00,215 military fiefs, all held 
of the crown, under the obligation of the vassafs taking arms lor 
his sovereign whenever required. In the continental kingdoms cf 
Europe, as in France, the feudal system arose by slow degrees,- nor 
was there of consequence the same union of the fabric as in 
England. The feudal lords were independent of one another, ever 
at variance trom their mutual pretensions, and often owning Imt a 
very slender allegiance to the crown. Their vassals suO'ered iVom 
oppression, and often struggled for their freedom ; but those etVorts 
being partial produced no consequence favouraitle to the liberty of 
the nation. In England all were oppressed by the enormous weight 
of the crov.n ; it was a common grievance, and produced at times a 
violent effort for the general liberties of the people. 

2. The forest-laws imposed by the conqueror (Sect. X\^, § 2, 1 1.) 
were a grievance felt by the whole nation, as rendering every Uiairs 
property precarious, and subject to the arbitrary encroachnients of 
the crown. It was no wonder that the barons and their vassals should 
cordially unite to rid themselves of so intolerable a hardship. Henry 
I. found it necessary to conciliate his subjects, by nutignting (he most 
rigorous of the fet'.dal laws. A greater advance was made under 
Henry II., by the insiitution of the trial by jury. But .lohn impru- 
dently resisting this natural progress toward a rational freedom, was 
soon compelled into those important concessions, the Charta dc. Foresta 
antl Magna Charta. From that time the constitution of England was 
that of a limited rvionarchy, whatever we may judge of the actual 
government, which was oltcn most arbitrary and despotical. 

3. The next memorable era in the progress of (be English consti- 
tution was the reign of that weak prince Henry HI., wluii the par- 
liament received a now form, bv the admission of the representatives 
of the people, the deputies of the counties and boroughs. (Sect. 
XXII., ^ 2.) His successor Edward 1. acknowledged their autb.ority 
in obtaining all his subsidies, and ratified a new law, which declared, 



212 MODERN IHSTORY. 

that no tax should be levied without the consent of lords and com- 
mons. The Magna Charta was confirmed no less than eleven times 
in the course of this reign. 

4. Thus the constitution continued advancing till its progress was 
suspended by the civil wars of York and Lancaster. Tne rights of 
both prince and people seemed then to be entirely forgotten; and 
the race of Tudor found no resistance from parliament to their vigor- 
ous and despotic sway. The talents of Elizabeth, and the high 
character which her government sustained with foreign powers, ex- 
tinguished all domestic disquiets, while the predominant feeling was 
the maintenance of the power and dignity of the crown. 

5. But under the succeeding prince, when his power and dignity 
were abased by his own weakness, the nation began to awake from 
its lethargy ; and that spirit of opposition, which in this reign con- 
tined itself to complaints, in the next broke forth with alarming vio- 
lence. Charles I., endowed with superior energy of character, acted, 
as he conceived, on a principle of duty, which obliged him to main- 
tain the prerogative of his predecessors, and to transmit it unimpaired 
to his posterity ; but he was imprudent in exerting with rigour an 
authority which he wanted ultimate resources to support. He was 
compelled to sign the Petition nf RightSyai grant more favourable to 
liberty than Magna Charta. The true patriots were satisfied with 
this concession, which conferred the most ample constitutional free- 
dom. But the popular leaders made patriotism the cloak of insatia- 
ble ambition; and advanced in their demands with every new com- 
pliance. The last appeal was made to the sword, and the contest 
ended in the destruction of tiie constitution. 

6. The despotism which succeeded, and the fluctuation of power 
from the long parliament to the protector, and finally to the leaders 
of a standing army, atforded demonstrative evidence how vain was 
the project of a republic, under which the demagogues had masked 
their design.^. Weary of anarchy, the nation returned with high 
gatistliction to its former constitution, a limited monarchy. 

7. Ne'.v encroachments under Charles 11. produced new limita- 
tions ; and the act of Habeas Corpus gave the utmost possible security 
to personal liberty. The violent and frantic invasion of the consti- 
tution by James 11., banished himself and his posterity from tbe 
throne, and produced a new and solemn contract between tlie king 
and the people. Regarding, therefore, the revolution as the final 
settlement of the English constitution, we shall endeavour brielly to 
delineate the chief features of that great pohtical structure. 

8. The constitution of Great Britain n)ay be viewed u.ider two 
disiinct heads, the legislative power, and the executive power ; the 
last comprehending the prerogative of the crown. 

'I'iie power of legislation belongs to parliament, whose constituent 
parts, are, the king, lords, and commons. The house of lords con- 
sists of the temporal peers of England, and of the spiritual, or the 
two archbishops and twenty-four bishops.. To these, since the 
unions with Scotland and Ireland, are added sixteen delegates from 
the peerage of the former kingdom, and thirty-two from the latter. 
The house of commons consists of the deputies or representatives 
of the counties and principal towns and boroughs of England, and 
the two universities, amounting in all to 513 members; to vvhom, 
since the unions, are added 45 froTn Scotland and lUO from Ireland. 
These deputies are chosen by the freeholders who possess a prop- 
erty yielding a certain yearly rent. The chancellor generally pre- 



MODERN HISTORY. 21S 

sides in the house of lords ; the speaker is president in the house of 
commons. 

9. The king is the most essential component part of parliament, 
because he alone has the power to convoke, prorogue, and dis^solve 
it. He has likewise a negative on all its acts, which are invalid 
without ills approbation ; and each house has a negative on the de- 
crees of the other. It is likewise competent to the king to propose 
any measure to be laid before the parliament. 

10. AH questions regarding public affairs and national measures 
may originate in either house of parliament, except grants of money, 
which must always take their rise in the house of commons, and 
cannot be altered, though they may be rejected, by the lords. Any 
matter must be primarily discussed in that house in which it origi- 
nates, and, until it is there decided, cannot be received by the other 
house, unless a conference should be demanded. A bill refused by 
either house is utterly void; and a bill passed by both houses is void, 
if refused by the king. 

11. The executive power of government is vested in the king. 
(1.) The first branch of his othce is the administration of justice. 
The judges of all courts .of judicature are the king's substitutes. 
He is the prosecutor of all crimes, and has tlie power of pardoning 
and suspending the execution of all sentences. (2.) He is the foun- 
tain of all honour, the giver of all titles and dignities, and the dis- 
poser of all the oflices of state. (3.) He is the superintendant of 
commerce, and has the power of regulating weights and measures, 
and of coining money. (4.) He is the head of the church, and 
names the archbishops and bishops. (5.) He is commander in 
chief of all the sea and land forces, and can alone equip fleets, levy 
armies, and appoint all their officers. (6.) He has the power of mak- 
ing war, peace, and alliance, and of sending and receiving ambassa- 
dors. (7.) He is above the reach of all courts of justice, and is not 
responsible to anj' judicature for his conduct in the administration of 
government. 

12. These high powers of the sovereign, which, at first sight, 
would seem to render him an absolute monarch, are thus admir.ibly 
controlled. The king is dependent on parliament for all subsidies, 
without which he can neither maintain his fleets and armies, nor pay 
the salaries of ofhcers. The parliament indeed settles' a revenue on 
the king for life, but this is merely suflicient for the maintenance of 
his household, and for supporting a proper dignity of establishment. 
As the king's revenue must be renewed by parliament at the begin- 
ning of every reign, it is in their power to withhold it till all abuses 
shall be remedied. At those periods therefore the constitution may 
be brought back to its first principles, and all encroachments of the 
prerogative may be restrained. 

13 The king can never reign without a parliament. It must by 
law be assembled once in three years, on a notice of forty flays 
before its meeting. Though the king is the head of the church, yet 
he cannot alter the established religion, nor franie ecclesiastical 
regulations. These must be made by the assembly of the clergy. The 
king cannot interfere in the ordinary administration of justice, nor 
refiise his consent to the prosecution of crimes. He may pardon 
offences, but cannot exempt the offender from pecuniary compensa- 
tion to the party injured. He cannot alter the standard of money, 
either in weight or alloy. He cannot raise an army without the ton- 
sent of parliament ; and though a moderate standing force is kept up 



214 MODERN HISTORY. 

with their consent, yet the funds for its payment require an annua! 
renewal by parliament. Though the sovereign is not amenable to 
any judicature, yet his ministers are responsible for all the measures 
of government, and are impeachable by the commons at the bar of 
the house of lords, for every species of misconduct or misdemeanour. 
The freedom of parliamentary discussion is secured, because no 
member can be questioned for any opinions or words, except in that 
house of parliament in which they were uttered. 

14. The personal secuiity and the rights of the subject are fur- 
ther guarded by these three peculiarities of the British constitution, 
the hnbem corpm, trial by juries, and the liberty of the press. By 
the act of habeas corpus, every prisoner must be brought before a 
judge, the cause of his detainer certitied, and the judge is authorized 
and bound to discharge him, if the cause of his imprisonment be in- 
sulhcient or illegal. The violation of this statute is punishable by the^ 
highest penalties. The habeas corpus may be suspended in times of 
danger to the state, as during the existence of a conspiracy or rebel- 
lion. Though this act does not extend to Scotland, yet the sulrjects of 
tb;it part of the united kingdoms are equally secured by their own 
laws. (Statute 1,701, c. 6.) 

15. All crimes must be tried by a jury of twelve men in England 
and Ireland, and tifteen in Scotland. The prisoner has a right of 
challenging or objecting to the jurors ; and (except in Scotland), with- 
out showing any cause, he may challenge twenty successively in or- 
dinary cases, and thirly-tive in cases of treason. The jury are judges 
both of the law and the fact; nor has the opinion of the court any 
weight in their decision, but such as they choose to give it. 

16. The liberty of the press is a guardian of the constitution, be- 
cause it is competent for any individual to convey to the public his 
opinion of the whole conduct of government, and the merits of its con- 
ductors ; to canvass every counsel of state, and to examine every pub- 
lic measure ; thus forcibly restraining all ministers and magistrates 
within the iimits of their duty.^ It is further the guardia.n of injured 
innocence, and the redresser of all wrongs that evade the cognizance 
of !a^v. Yet this most valuable right, if unrestrained, would be the 
source of the greatest mischief If it were allowable with impunity 
to assail the established government, to convulse society, to dissem- 
inate atheism, to injure tlie reputation, or to endanger the life and 
property, of individuals, by false accusations, there would be an end 
of all liberty and civil happiness. The liberty of the press consists 
in this, that there is no examination of writings previous to the print- 
ing and publjj^hiiig of them ; but, after publication, such writings as 
o'Tend in any of the above particulars are punishable by law, on trial 
of the offence by jury. Thus the public is properly constituted the 
julge and censor of all writings addressed to itself 

17. Such are briefly the outlines of the admirable fabric of the 
British constitution. Esto perpetua ! {jnay it exist for ever !) 



SECTION LX. 
OF THE PUBLIC REVENUE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 

1. The property belonging to the crown of Great Britain, which 
was anciently very great, and fully adequate to the maintenance of 
government, consisted of domain-lands, the first fruits and tenths of 



MODERN HISTORY. 216 

church-benefices, the rents of vacant bishoprics and abbeys, the prof- 
its of military tenures, lines imposed in courts of justice, forieitures, 
&c. From alienations made by the sovereigns, and retrenchments of 
their prerogative, the property of the crown is now become so in- 
considerable, that the king may be regarded as entirely dependent 
on the people for the support of his dignity, and the means of carry- 
ing on the business of the state. The public revenue, destined for 
these twa purposes, arises now from the subsidies granted by the 
people. -The supplies are voted by the commons, and the rneans 
of I'urnishing them, by taxes proposed by the chancellor of the 
exchequer, must receive their sanction." 

2. Of these taxes some are annual, as the land tax and malt tax ; 
others are perpetual, as the customs, excise, salt duty, post-oflice 
duty, stamps, house and window tax, duties on servants, hackney 
coaches, pensions, &c. The customs are a tax paid by the merchant 
on all imported and exported commodities ; the excise is an inland 
imposition, laid sometimes on the consumer, and sometimes on the 
retail seller. 

2. The produce of these taxes is, in the first place, destined to 
the payment of the interest of the national debt, and afterward to 
the ordinary support of government. 

The national debt arose soon after the revolution, when it was 
thought hazardous to impose annual taxes equal to the annual ex- 
pense of government, and more expedient to borrow large sums for 
the immediate service of the state, raishig annually no more than 
to pay the interest of that debt. Tlie same system has been since 
persevered in; so that the national debt, which a century ago was 
16 millons, is now above 300 millions. To pay the interest of this 
enormous sum the produce of the taxes (excepting the malt and 
land tax) are primarily destined; and as somewhat more is annually 
raised than the interest of.,the debt and the mninlenance of govern- 
ment demand, the surplus) constitutes a si;i/c«i^- /m/ic^ for paying otT 
the principal of the debt. ' 

4. The produce of the taxes, originally separate funds, is now 
thrown into two or three capital funds; one of which is mortgaged 
by parliament tor the maintenance of tbe king's household and the 
civil list, namely, the salaries of officers of state, judges, and ambas- 
sadors, private expenses, pensions, &c. 

5. jS otwithstanding the little prospect of an extinction of the 
national debt, government maintains its credit, and will always find 
lenders, because the terms granted are beneficial, and the security is 
transferable ; so that a lender can thus always obtain payment of his 
principal sum, and frequently make gain by the transference. The 
value of stock rises and falls from various occasional causes, as na- 
tional prosperity, or the reverse, plenty or scarcity of money, quan- 
tity ot public debt. On this variation is founded the practice of 
stock-jobbing, that is, either buying and selling actual property in the 
public funds, which is a lawful speculation, or gaming and wageiiiig 
on the price of stock, which is an illicit but common practice. The 
practice of stock-jobbing, even by the transference of actual proper- 
ly, and far more by gaming on that which is fictitious, is prejudicial 
to commerce and manufactures, by engrossing a great part of the 
national wealth, repressing industry, encouraging fraud, and often 
tempting to the most treacherous and dangerous devices for raising 
4nd sjuking the funds. 



216 MODERN HISTORY. 

SECTION LXI.' 

HISTORY OF FRANCE UNDER LEWIS XIII. 

1. France, which under Henry IV. had risen from a state of miser- 
able anarchy to high prosperity and splendour, sunk, upon his death, 
into weakness, faction, and disorder. Mary of Medici, regent in the 
minority of her son Lewis Xill., a weak woman, and of restless am- 
bition, disgusted the nobility by her partiality for ner Italian courtiers. 
Concini, her first minister, created mai*shal d'Ancre, became so uni- 
versally odious, that he was openly murdered in the Louvre, and 
his body torn to pieces. The queen was removed from Paris, and 
kept for two years a prisoner at Blois, till relieved by the duke 
d'Epernon, to serve his own purposes of ambition. The queen"'s party 
was at war with that of her son, and the wnole kingdom in a state of 
anarchy. 

2. The genius of cardinal Richelieu, who was now brought into 
power by Mary of Medici, soon effected a wonderful change. He 
reconciled the mother and her son, soothed the contending factions, 
and, on the king's assuming the government, directed every public 
measure to the complete re-estabiishment of the power and dignity 
of the monarchy. The party of the Calvinists, alienated by perse- 
cution, attempted to throw off their allegiance, and to establish an in- 
dependent state, of which Rochelle was to be the capital. Richelieu 
bargained with the Dutch to furnish a fleet for subduing their prot- 
estant brethren, and the Dutch now fought as keenly for the catho- 
lic religion as they had lately fought for the protestant. The Eng- 
lish sent a fleet to the aid of the people of Rochelle, who for a year 
maintained a most obstinate siege against the French troops, com- 
manded by the cardinal in person. They were at length forced to 
.gurrentier. Rochelle and ail tlie other protestant cities of France 

• were stripped of their privileges, and their fortifications were de- 
stroyed. Thus Calvinism was for ever crushed in France. 

3. Lewis XIII., though a weak prince, saw his advantage in en- 
tering into all the great designs of his minister. Richelieu influ- 
enced the politics of all Europe ; and the power of Austria was 
attacked in Germ.iny, Flanders, Spain, and Italy. His talents were 
equally displayed in active war, in foreign negotiation, and in his 
domestic arrangements. Yet at this very time a formidable cabal 
was undermining him. Mary of iMedici was jealous of the man 
whom she had raised ; and the duke of Orleans, the king's brother, 
sougnt to supplant him in power. Richelieu, with astonishing intre- 
pidity of mind, repressed this conspiracy. Fortified by the king's 
Hutnority he seized the marslial de Marillac, one of his most danger- 
ous enemies, at the head of his army ; and tried and put him to 
death by a lawless stretch of power. Orleans, apprehensive of a 
similar fate, fled from the kingdom ; and Mary of Medici, arrested 
and removed from court, ended her career of ambition in voluntary 
exile at Brussels. Orleans, supported by the duke de Montmorenci, 
attempted a rebellion ; but their army was defeated, and Montmo- 
renci executed for treason. The queen had taken part with the 
enemies of the cardinal, who imprisoned her confessor, and seized 
and examined her papers. Anne of Austria was very near sharing 
the fate of Mary of Medici, 



MODERN HISTORY. 217 

4. Amidst all this turbulence of foreign war and state cabal, Riche- 
lieu cuiiivated literature, encouraged the sciences, instituted the 
French academy, and composed pieces for the theatre. The admin- 
istration of RiclieUeu, though turbulent from faction and civil war, 
was, on the whole, extremely glorious for France ; and sowed tiie 
seeds of its splendour in the succeeding reign of Lewis XIV. The 
death of this great minister, in 1,642, ;iyas so^on after Ibliowed by the 
death of his sovereign Lewis XIll., in! 1,643. j 



SECTION LXII. 

SPAIN UNDER PHILIP IH. AND PHILIP IV. CONSTITUTION OF 
PORTUGAL AND OF SPAIN. 

1. From the death of Philip II. Spain declined in power, and, not- 
withstanding its great sources of wealth, the national tinances were 
in the utmost disorder. Philip 111. was tbrced to conclude a peace 
with the Dutch, and to restore to the house of Nassau its confiscated 
estates. With a weak and despicable policy he expelled from his 
kingdom all the Moors, who were the most industrious of its inhabi- 
tants^ 1,610. This depopulation, with that already produced by its 
American colonies, rendered Spain a lifeless and enervated mass. 
Philip was entirely under the intluence of his minister the duke of 
Lerma. 

2. The national weakness and disorders increased under Philip IV., 
who, equally spiritless as his father, was implicitly ruled by his min- 
ister Olivarez. His reign was a continued series of miscarriages and 
defeats. The Dutch seized Brazil; the French invaded Artois; 
Catalonia revolted to France ; and Portugal shook off its yoke, and 
became an independent kingdom. 

3. No revolution was ever effected with such ease and celerity 
as that of Portugal. The people were disgusted with the rigorous 
and impolitic administration of Olivarez. The (^uke of Braganza,] 
descended from the ancient kings of Portugal, had the commaairbf 
the army. Instigated by the ambition of the duchess, and seeing the 
spirit of the nation favourable to his views, he caused himself to be 
proclaimed king at Lisbon. The Spanish guards were attacked and 
routed, and the chief partisans of the government put to deatli by 
the populace. All the principal towns followed the example of the 
capital, and soon after all the foreign settlements. From that era, 
1,640, Portugal became an independent sovereignty, after having 
been sixty years an appanage of the kingdom of Spain. 

4. The government of Portugal approaches to an absolute mon- 
archy. The consent of the states or cortcs, consisting of clergy, 
nobility, and commons, was formerly necessary to the imposition of 
taxes, and the settlement of the succession to the crown. But this 
assembly, convoked only by the royal mandate, has for a long time 
ceased to meet. The ordinary business of government is transacted 
by the king a\id his council of state, which is appointed by himself. 
1 he revenue of the crown arises from its domains, including the 
family estates of Braganza ; from the duties on exports and imports, 
from the taxes, and from a stated proportion of the gold brought from 
Brazil. The state of the commerce and manufactures of Portugal 
is extremely low. Though the soil and climate are favourable to 
cultivation, yet the agriculture of the kingdom is much neglected. 

T 23 



218 MODERN HISTORY. 

5. The reigns of Philip II|,' and IV. of Spain, though an era of 
national humiliation, derived some fame from the state of literature. 
Dramatic composition, poetry, romance, and even history, were 
cultivated with great success. But these pursuits are in some sort 
the amusements of indolence, which was the predominant character 
of the people,. This character may have arisen from two sources. 
The torrent of wealth poured in from America retarded, in the lower 
classes, domestic industry and manufactures, while it increased the 
pride of the gentry, and made them disdain all occupation ; and the 
despotism of the government strongly repressed all enterprise and 
activity in the people. 

6. The constitution of Spain, of which the sovereignty was in an- 
cient times elective, is now that of an absolute monarchy. The 
crown is hereditary; though at different times, as in 1,619 and 1,713, 
there has heen a new limitation of the succession made by the mon- 
arch. The Cortes^ or states of the kingdom, limited in former times 
the power of the sovereign; but Charles V. annihilated their author- 
ity, by depriving the nobility and clergy of their seat in tliose as- 
semblies. The remaining members, the deputies of the towns, are 
entirely under the control of the monarch. The king's council, or 
Consejo Real^ is the organ of government; but no department of the 
state has any constitutional power to regulate the will of the prince. 



SECTION LXIII. 

AFFAIRS OF GERMANY FROM THE ABDICATION OF CHARLES 
V. TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA. 

1. To preserve the connexion of the affairs of Germany with 
those of the other kingdoms of Europe, we must returnjo the period 
of the abdication of Ciiaries V., when the empire was distracted 
by the political factions and quarrels of its independehl princes,^ and 
by the contending sects of the catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists. 
Ferdinand vainly attempted to reconcile those factions, and to unite 
the three religions. Maximilian II. had still less power to eficct this 
object than his predecessor ; nor was the state of affairs changed 
during the succeeding reigns of Rodolphus II. and Matthias. A civij 
war of thirty years duration reduced the empire to extremity. 
Under Ferdinand II., a zealous(catho|ic) the protestant states of Bo- 
hemia, which had suffered under 'the~governmenl of Matthias, con- 
ferred their crown on the elector Falaline. Ferdinand, in revenge, 
deprived him both of his crown and electorate. 

y. The protestantJcause was declining fast in Germany, and every 
thing seemed to irlciicate success to the schemes of FenUnand for its 
entire annihilation, when it received new vigour from the interven- 
tion of Gustavus Adolphus king of Sweden. This great prince de- 
feated the imperial generals, and carried the protestant banners trium- 
phantly through Germany. The emperor was completely humbled, 
and the elector Palatine was on the eve of restoration to his domin- 
ions, when the heroic Gustavus was slain in the battle of Lutzen, 
1,632. The war was successfully prosecuted by the Swedish gener- 
als, while cardinal Richelieu harassed the house of Austria both in 
Germany and Spain. 

3. In the succeeding reign of Ferdinand III., the protestants of 



MODERN HISTORY. 21^ 

Germany found the most active support both from the Swedes and 
.ti\e French. The emperor was forced to conclude the peace of 
( Westphaha inQ,648 j and these powers dictated the terms. By this 
cetebrat^'d treaty alf disputes were settled between the contending 
princes of the empire, and also between the contending religions ; 
the Swedes were indemnified for the charges of the war, and ac- 
quired Pomerania, Stettin, Wismar, and other provinces, and their 
sovereign the dignity of prince of the empire ; its chief posses- 
sions were restored to the Palatine family ; the king of France was 
made landgrave of Alsace ; and an equal establishment of the three 
religions was decreed. This salutary peace laid the foundation of 
the future greatness and prosperity of the German empire. 



SECTION LXIV. 
FRANCE UNDER LEWIS XIV. 

1. On the dealh of Lewis XIII. iri 1,633,' his son Lewis XIV. suc- 
ceeded to the thron€; in the fifth year of his agey' Europe, as we 
have seen, was in a most turbulent state ; and France, under the ad- 
ministration of Richelieu, acted a conspicuous part in exciting those 
general commotions. The queen mother Anne of Austria, appointed 
regent by the states, chose for her minister the cardinal Mazarin, an 
Italian, and from that circumstance odious to the people. The Span- 
iards, taking advantage of the king's minority and the popular dis- 
contents, made an attack on Champagne ; but were defeated in a 
series of engagements by the great Conde. The marshal de Tu- 
renne shared with him the palm of glory. The peace of Westpha- 
lia composed those differences. 

2. At this very time the commotions of the Fronde broke cut in 
Paiis. iThe jealousy of Mazarin''s power, felt by the nobility, the 
unpopularity of bis measures, the disorder of the finances, and the 
oppression of new taxes, intlamed the nation ; and the intrigues of 
the coadjutor, afterwards cardinal de Retz, blew the flame into a 
civil war.) The parliament of Paris took part with the rebels, who 
were headed by the prince of Conti, the dukes of Longueville and 
BouilloUj and the chief nobility. The queen and the Royal family 
removed to St. Gei'main's, and the ministerial party besieged Paris. 
Turenne, who at first supported them, was gained over by the 
rebels. The women, who are always concerned in the disturbances 
of France, acted a conspicuous part in those of the Fronde. A short 
pacification ensued ; but the imprudent violence ol' Mazarin soon re- 
newed the disorders. At length the parliament of Paris assumed 
the right of banishing this unpopular minister, who retired to the 
imperial dominions ; but his influence continued to regulate the 
measures of state. 

3. A change ensued on the king's coming of age, 1,G52. De 
Retz and Orleans, the chief promoters of the rebellion, were ban- 
ished, and Mazarin resumed his station as minister. Conde had 
joined the Spaniards in an attack on the French Netherlands, but 
was overmatched by Turenne, who revenged this insult by the taking 
of Dunkirk and several fortified towns under the Spanish govern- 
ment. By convention with Cromwell, Dunkirk had been ceded to 
the English, and afterwards sold to France by Charles 11,, as has been 
related. 



220 MODERN HISTORY. 

4. The war with Spain ended in t ,659, by the peace of the Py- 
renees. Many cessions were made on both sides, but France kept 
Roussillon and part of Artois. It was stipulated that Lewis XIV. 
should marry the infanta, daughter of PhiHp IV., but should renounce 
all right which might thence open to the crown of Spain. 

5. The treaty of the Pyrenees gave peace to the south of Europe. 
The wars in the north between .Sweden, Poland, and Denmark, 
which arose after the abdication of Christina of Sweden, were termi- 
nated in the year following by the treaty of Oliva. Christhia, a sin- 
gular, but not a great woman, held the sceptre of Sweden for twen- 
ty-two years after the death of her father, Gustavus Adolphiis. At 
lengih, tired of the cares of government, and affecting a passion for 
literature and philosophy, she resigned the crown to her cousin, 
Charles X., in 1,654. Soon after this event Casimer king of Poland 
was induced by age and sickness to abdicate the tiironc, after an hon- 
ourable reign. 

G. Mazarin died injJjGGl, and Lewis XIV. entered on a vigorous 
and splendid career. (Tlie finances, which from the time of Henry IV. 
had been in extreme (Jisorder, were admirably regulated by Colbert ; 
and the commerce and manufactures of the kingdom, wisely en- 
couraged by government, were soon in the most flourishing situ ation^ 
The canal of Languedoc joined the bay of Biscay and the Med- 
itcrranean; the principal sea-ports were enlarged and fortified; and 
the internal police of the kingdom was regularly and strictly enforc- 
ed. At the same time the arms of France aided England against the 
Dutch, Germany against the Turks, and Portugal against Spain. 

7. On the death of Philip IV., Lewis, pretending Ihat Spain had 
failed in payment of the dowry of his queen, besieged and took Lisle, 
with several other fortified tovvns of Flanders ; and in the next cam- 

Jjaign made himself master of Franche-Comte. Lewis marched with 
lis armies, but the glory of these conquests was owing to Turenne 
and Vauban. The triple alliance formed by England, Holland, and 
Sweden, checked this career, and brought about the treaty of Ajx- 
la-Chapelle, 1,G68, by which Lewis, though he retained Flanders, 
restored Franche-Comte, and confirmed the peace of the Pyrenees. 

8. The strength and prosperity of the kingdom continued to 
increase under the able administration of Colbei't and Louvois. The 
civil factions of Holland between the stadtholder and the party of 
the De Wits, tempted Lewis to undertake the conquest of that coun- 
try. England, Germany, and Sweden, favoured his views. He 
overran the provinces of Utrecht, Overyssel, and Guelderland, and 
advanced almost to the gates of Amsterdam, when the Dutch inun- 
dated the country by letting in the sea, and the French were forced 
to retreat. 

9. The confederate powers now became jealous of the ascendan- 
cy of France ; and the prince of Orange had sufficient influence 
with England, and both branches of the house of Austria, to obtain 
their alliance in aid of the republic. The arms of Lewis, however, 
continued to be successful, and the peace concluded at Nimeguen, 
in 1,678, was much to the honour of France. Franche-Comte was 
assured as a part of her dominions, and Spain allowed her right by 
conquest to a great proportion of the Netherlands. 

10. Notwithstanding the peace, Lewis, with the most culpable 
insincerity, seized Strasburg, and secretly assisted the Hungarians 
and Turks in their attack on the imperial dominions. Vienna must 
have fallen into the hands of the Turks, if it had not been seasonably 



MODERN HISTORY. 221 

relieved by the victorious arms of Joiin Sobieski king of Poland. Id 

1,683. 

11. Qne of the weakest and most impolitic measures of Lewis 
XIV., was the revocation of the edict of Nantes,) granted by Henry 
IV. for^the toleration of the protestants. White their worship was 
suppressed, their churches demohshed, and their ministers banished, 
the protestant laity were forbidden, under the most rigorous penal- 
ties, to quit the kingdom, 1,685. France, however, by thi? measure, 
lost above 5U0,0UU of her most industrious and useful subjects ; and 
the name oi" Lewis XIV. was execrated over a great part of Europe. 
Not long after this time a similar excess of intolerant bigotry pre- 
cipitated James II. from the throne of Britain, and forced him to scek-i 
an asylum trom the monarch of France. 

12. William prince of Orange, the inveterate enemy of Lewis, 
brought about the league of Augsburg, 1,680; and the war was 
renewed with France by Germany, Spain, England, and Holland. 
Tiie French arms were still successt'ui. Luxemburg defeated 
William in the battles of Steenkirk and Nerwinden; Koaiiles'was 
victorious in Spain; and an army of 10U,000 French ravaged the 
Palatinate, and took many of the most important tov\ns on the Rhine. 
Tills was the crises of the glory of Lewis, whose fortunes were to 
sustain the most mortifying reverse. 

13. Those various and most extensive military enterprises, how- 
ever tlattering to the pride of the monarch, had been attended uith 
enormous expense, and no solid advantage to the nation. Ihe 
finances had lallen into disorder after the death of Colbert, and a 
peace was absolutely necessary. By the treaty of Ryswick, conciuiled 
in 1,697, Lewis restored to Spain all the conquests made in the two 
last wars, several towns to the emperor, the duchy of Lorraine to its 
duke, and acknowledged the right of William to the crowu of Eng- 
land. 

14. The succession of the kingdom of Spain, on the expected 
death of Cliaries II., without issue, was now the object of political 
intrigue. The emperor and the king of France had the only natiua! 
right of succession ; but yvilliam 111., of England, from the dread 
of such an increase of power to either, proposed a treaty of partition 
of the Spanish dominions, at liome and abroad, between the elector 
of Bavaria, the dauphin, and the emperors second son. Charios 11. 
chose rather to make his own destination, and appointed by will that 
the duke of Anjou, second son of the dauphin, should inherit Spain; 
on whose death without issue, it should devolve on the archduke 
Charles, youngest son of the emperor. 

15. On the death of Charles the duke of Anjou succeeded to the 
throne of Spain, in virtue of this settlement. The emperor, the 
king of England, and the Dutch, proposed to separate from his 
crowD the Spai.''jh dominions in Italy. In this enterprise prince 
Eugene, son of the count de Soissons, commanded the imperial 
troops, an illustrious renegado from France, of great prowess and 
military skill. 

16. James II. of England died in 1,701 at St. Germain's, and Lewis 
gave mortal oifence to the government of that country by acknowl- 
edging the title of his son. On the death of king William in the 
year lollowing war was declared by England, Holland, and ihe em- 
pire, against France and Spain. Lewis XIV. was now in the decline 
of life. He had lost the ablest of his Uiinisters and his greatest gen- 
erals. The liiKinces of the kingdom were exhausted. The armies. 



■222 MODERN HISTORY. 

of his enemies were commanded by Eugene and the duke of Marl- 
borough, the ablest generals of the age, and supported by the treas- 
ures ot tne united powers. Savoy and Portugal joined this formidable 
confederacy, to overwhelm both branches of the house of Bourbon, 
and place the emperor's son on the throne of Spain. 

17. Marlborough took Venlo, Ruremonde, and Liege. Eugene 
and Marlborough defeated Tallard and Marsin, with the elector of 
Bavaria, in the signal battle of Blenheim, 1,704. England and Hol- 
land attacked Spain by sea and land. Catalonia and Valencia were 
subdued in six weeks. Gibralter was taken by the Englisli, and 
has ever since remained in their possession, hi the battle of Kami- 
lies, Marlborough defeated Villeroy, and left 20,000 dead on the tield. 
The contest, at first doubtful in Italy, ended alike disastrously for the 
house of Bourbon. The archduke Charles was in the mean time 
proclaimed king at Madrid ; and Philip V. had serious thoughts of 
abandoning Spain, and establishing his dominion in America. But 
the successes of the duke of Berwick, natural son of James II., recov- 
ered for a while his desponding spirit^ and even prompted his grand- 
father Lewis to avenge himself on England, by aiding the bold but 
desperate enterprise of establishing the pretended James on the 
throne of Britain. 

1 8. But France and Spain were daily losing ground. The pope 
had acknowledged the title of the archduke Charles; the English 
seized the Mediterranean islands ; and Lewis, fallen from all his 
proud pretensions, humbly entreated a peace, which was refused, 
unless on the condition ol' dethroning his grandson with his own arms. 
He maintained for a while this unequal contest, and was at length 
forced to propose terms equally humiliating ; the cession of all his con- 
quests in the Netherlands and on the Rhine ; the acknowledgment ol" 
the archduke's title to the crown of Spain ; and a promise to give no 
aid to his grandson. But these terms were refused, and the iniiuman 
condition still insisted on, that he should assist in dethroning his 
grandson. A last exertion was made in Spain under the duke of 
Vendome, at the head of a prodigious army ; and the victory ob- 
tained by the French at V'illa-vitiosa restored Philip V. to the throne 
of Spain. His competitor, the archduke, soon after became em- 
peror, on the death of his elder brother. 

19. The hitrigues of the cabinet of queen Anne, and the coming 
in of a tory ministry, changed the politics of Europe. It was re- 
solved to make peace \vith France and Spain, and the treaty was 
concluded at Utrecht in 1,713. It was stipulated that Philip king 
of Spain should renounce all eventual right to the crown of France, 
and his brother to the crown of Spain. The Dutch obtained an ex- 
tension of frontier, and the emperor a great part of Spanish Flanders. 
The English gained from Spain, Gibraltar and Minorca, and from 
France, Acadia, Newfoundland, and Hudson's Bay, w ';th the demolition 
of the harbor of Dunkirk. In the following year, a peace was con- 
cluded at Rastadt between France and the empire. 

20. The conclusion of this peace, after an honourable war, was . 
the most memorable event in the reign of queen Anne, if we except 
the union of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland, in 1 ,706, which i 
was brought about by the negotiation of commissioners mutually 
chosen, to secure the rights of each kingdom in the best manner for 
their mutual beneht. It was stipulated that both should be represent-- 
ed by one parliament (Sect. LIX., § 8), that they should have the ' 
same privileges with respect to commerce, and that each kingdorai 



MODERN HISTORY. 223 

should retain its own laws and established religion. The succession 
to the crown was limited to the house of Hangyer. Queen Anne 
died on the 30th of July, 1,714. Lewis X1V.C died on the 1st of 
September, 1,715, in the 78th year of his age) \|te was a prince of 
great vigour of mind, of good talents, though unimproved by educa- 
tion, of dignified yet amiable manners. His greatest fault was inor- 
dinate ambition, to which he sacrificed the real interests of his people. . 
It was his highest honour, that he discerned and recompensed every 
species of merit. France was in his time equally illustrious by the 
great military talents of her generals, and by the splendour of liter- 
ature and of the arts and sciences. 



SECTION LXV. 

OF THE CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE UNDER THE MONAR- 
CHY. 

1. It is necessary for understanding the history of France, that 
we should have some acquaintance with its former monarchical con- 
stitution : we shall therelbre briefly trace the progress of the gov- 
ernment under the different races of its sovereigns. The regal pre- 
rogative was extremely limited under the Merovingian princes. 
(Sect. II., III.) The general assembly of the nation had the right of 
electing the sovereign, and the power of legislation. Under the 
Carlovingian race the authority acquired by Pepin and Charlemagne 
sunk to nothing in the hands of their weak posterity ; and though 
the crown had ceased to be elective, the regal dignity was a mere 
shadow. The power of the state had passed into the hands of a 
turbulent aristocracy, ever at variance among themselves, and uniting 
only to abase the crown and to oppress the people. 

2. Under the third^ or Capetian race the crown acquired more 
weight, and many of the sovereigns exerted a proper spirit in re- 
straining the power of the nobles, and in punishing their lawless 
outrages.' To balance the weight of the aristocracy Philip the fair 
introduced the third estate to the national assemblies, which for 
above four centuries had consisted only of the nobles and clergy. 
The chief power of the state began now to shift to the scale of the 
monarch. The national assembly interfered rather to ratify than to 
decree ; and in the fifteenth century the right of legislation was under- 
stood to reside wholly in the crown. The right of taxation seemed 
to follow of course. The assemblies or states-general were now 
rarely convened, and from the reign of Lewis XIII. were discontinued. 

3. But another power gradually rose in the state, which in some 
measure supplied the function of the assemblies in limiting tiie royal 
prerogative. The parliaments were originally the chief courts of 
justice in the tcrritoi'y where they were established. The parlia- 
ment of Paris naturally claimed a higher respect and dignity than 
the parliaments of the provinces; and, acquiring a right of :ippeal 
from their decrees, was considered as the paramount jurisdiction, 
and the depository of the laws of the kingdom. The sovereigns of 
France, on first assuming the powers of legislation and taxation, pro- 
duced their edicts to be registered in the court of the parliament of 
Paris, and frequently consulted with its members on momentous 
affairs of state, as in questions of peace, war, or alliance. Thus the 



224 MODERN HISTORY. 

nation began to regard the parliament of Paris as a body which 
shared the powers of government with the monarch. In the latter 
reigns the parliament availed itself of that general opinion, and made 
a bold stand in opposing any arbitrary stretches of the king's author- 
ity, by refusing to verify and register his edicts. 

4. But as this power of the parliament was in reality a usurpation, 
it was constantly a subject of dispute. The members of this court 
were in no sense the representatives of the people, nor vested with 
any portion of the constitutional authority of the national assemblies. 
They were j^ the king's nomination, removable by him at pleasure, 
and even subject to entire annihilation as a body at his command. 
Even without so violent a remedy, the sovereign could at any time 
frustrate their opposition to his will, by personally appearing in the 
hail of parliament, and commanding his edict to be registered. 

5. Yet a power thus easily defeasible had its advantages to the 
state, and operated as a considerable restraint on the royal authority. 
Considering itself as the guardian of the p\iblic liberty, it remonstr.it- 
ed against all arbitrary encroachments of the crown, and by giving 
alarm to the nation, furnished an opposition sufficiently powerful to 
obtain its ends. The provincial parliaments, though they likewise 
registered the royal edicts, never assumed any similar authority. 
Thty were only the chief courts of civil judicature. 

6. The king of France was therefore to be considered as an ab- 
solute monarcii, whose authority was in sonje degree limited by the 
consuetudinary reguhitions of the state, and could not easily become 
entirely despotic and tyrannical. The crown was hereditary, but 
could not descend to a female, nor to a natural son. The royal rev- 
enue was partly fixed and partly arbitrary. The fixed revenue com- 
prehended the royal domains, the duties on wines and salt, the land 
tax, capitation tax, and gilt of the clergy ; the other arose from all 
other taxes which the monarch thought fit to impose, and from the 
sale of offices. Most of these duties were leased Out to the farmei's- 
general. 

7. The Galilean church, though catholic, and acknowledging 
the spiritual author ty of the pope, had greatly abridged his ancient 
prerogatives within the kingdom. The assembly of the church 
declared, in l,682,(ihat no temporal sovereign could be deposed by 
the pope, nor subject? absolved from their allegiance : it decreed the 
subjection of the pope to the councils of the church, and dejnied his 
infallibility when in opposition to the canons of those councils./ The 
jope had no powf^r to levy money in France without^TIie royal 
icease. hi n^hort, the ecclesiastical authority was in all repects sub- 
ordinate to the civil. 



li< 



SECTION LXVl. 

OF PETER THE GREAT, CZAR OF MUSCOVY, AND CHARLES 
XII., KING or SWEDEN. 

1 . Two most illustrious men adorned the north of Europe in the 
latter part of the age of Lewis XIV., Peter the great of Muscovy, 
and Charles XII. of Sweden. 

Russin is said to h;<ve received the li;;ht of Christianity in the 
tenth century, but its history is utterly unknown till the middle of 



MODERN HISTORY. 225 

the fifteenth. At that period John Basilowitz redeemed the empire 
from its subjection to the Tartars, and extended its limits. His suc- 
cessors maintained a considerable splendour as sovereigns ; but their 
dominions were uncultivated, and their subjects barbarians. Alexis 
Michaelowitz, father of Peter the great, was the first who published 
a code of laws. Kt the end of the sixteenth century )Siberia was 
added to the empire, which till that time had been bounded by the 
limits of Europe. 

2. Peter, the youngest son of the emperor Alexis, became mas- 
ter of the empire in 1,689, by setting aside a weak elder brother, 
and banishing a factious sister, who had seized the govetnment. He 
was uneducated, and his youth had been spent in debaiuhery ; but 
his new situation immediately displayed his talents, and gave birth to 
the wisest plans for the improvement of a barbarous people. The 
army and navy demanded his tirst attention. "He began by breaking 
the turbulent militia of the Strelitzes, and by degrees formed a regu- 
lar army of 12,000 men on the strictest mode! of discipline. He em- 
ployed some Dutchmen to build a small fleet, and made the first ex- 
periment of his arms in taking Azof from the Turks in 1 ,696. 

3. Having gained the little instruction which he possessed from 
foreigners, Peter resolved to travel in search of knowledge. Ap- 
pointing Le Fort, an able Genevese, his ambassador, he travelled 
as a private person in his suite through Germany to Holland, and 
studied the art of ship-building, by woi-king in the docks with his 
own hands. Thence he passed toEngland, and in a similar manner 
acquired the knowledge of every art fitted for the improvement of 
his kingdom. The relative sciences were cultivated with the same 
ardour and success ; and in sixteen months he returned to Moscow to 
reduce those important acquirements into practice. 

4. Regiments were raised and trained to exercise on the German 
model ; the finances arranged and systematized ; the church re- 
formed by new canons and regulations; the partriarchate aboiisli- 
ed ; and a much abused civil and criminal jurisdiction taken from 
the clergy. It was necessary to carry this reform even to the abo- 
lition of the national dress, and the suppression of ancient usages 
and habits of life, innovations reluctantly submitted to, but enforced 
by absolute power. 

5. While this great genius was thus employed in new-modelling 
and polishing a barbarous empire, a competitor arose [o dispute with 
him the sovereignty of the north, and to divide the admiration of 
Europe. Charles XII. succeeded to the throne of Sweden in 1_,695, 
at fifteen years of age ; a prince whose singular heroism of character 
and extraordinary achievements have ranlied him with the greatest 
conquerors of antiquity. The situation of his kingdom speedily 
brought his genius into display. Russia, Poland, and Denmark, joined 
in a league to seize and divide his dominions. The attack was 
begun by the Danes on Holstein, while the king of Poland invaded 
Livonia, and the czar, Ingria. Charles immediately landed an army 

'' on Zealand, at the gates of Copenhagen, and in six weeks forced the 
king to purchase the safety of his capital and kingdom, by laying 
down his arms, and making full indemnity to the duke of Holstein. 
He now hastened into Ingria, and at the"^ battle of Narva defeated 
60,000 of the Russians, and took 30,000 prisoners. Such was the 
first campaign of Charles XII., then a boy of seventeen. 

6. Poland was destined to receive a more humiliating chastise- 
ment. Charles reduced Courland and Lithuania, penetrated into the 

29 



226 MODERN HISTORY. 

heart of the kingdom, and subdued the capitals of Warsaw and Cra* 
cow. He then assembled the states, declared king Augustus de- 
posed, and signified his pleasure that Stanislaus, his own dependant, 
should be elected sovereign of Poland. The factions of the king- 
dom aided this revolution, and the will of Charles was complied 
with. The deposed king retired to his electoral dominions of 
Saxony. 

7. A negotiation begun with the czar was abruptly terminated by 
Charles, who declared that he would negotiate only at Moscow. 
Entering the Russian dominions with 45,000 men, he was in the way 
of executing his threat, when he was induced, by a treacherous 
promise of aid from the Cossacks, to march through the Ukraine in 
the depth of winter. His army vvas wasted by fatigue and famine, 
when he was encountered by the czar at Pultowa ; and the fate of 
Russia, Sweden, and Poland, hung upon that battle. Charles was 
entirely defeated : 9,000 Swedes fell in the held, and 14,000 were 
taken prisoners, 1,709. Augustus was restored to the throne of 
Poland, and the czar took possession of Finland and Livonia. 

o. With the wreck of his army, reduced to 1,800 men, Charles 
retreated into the Turkish dominions, and formed a c;'imp near Ben- 
der, lie endeavoured to prevail upon the grand seignior to arm 
against the czar, and succeeded after a long negotiation. Two hun- 
dred thousand Turks took the field, and the czar's army", far inferior . 
in number, was surrounded, and, after ineffectual resistance, forced 
to capitulate to the grand vizier. The news of this capitulation de- 
stroyed all the hopes of Charles ; and his subsequent conduct seems 
the result of frenzy. The grand seignior having intimated his de- 
sire that the Swedes should quit his territories, Charles fortified his 
camp, and declared that he would defend it to the last extremity. 
After every means ineffectually tried to make him alter this resolu- 
tion, he was attacked by the Turkish army, and taken fighting sword 
in hand amidst a massacre of his troops. 

9. In the mean time the czar and the king of Denmark were rav- 
aging Sweden. Charles returned in disguise with two of his officers, 
to his own dominions, and immediately conceived the design of^ 
wresting Norway from Denmark. Failing in the outset of this enter- 
prise, he was persuaded by Gortz, his prime minister, to attempt to 
dethrone George II., to seize a part of his continental dominions, and 
to place the pretender James on the throne of England. This 
project was concerted between Gortz and Alberoni, prime minister 
of Philip V. The czar joined in the scheme, and made peace with 
Sweden ; but an unfbres(-en event broke ail their measures. In be- 
sieging the Norwegian fortress of Frederickshall, Charles vvas killed 
by a cannon-ball, on the 11th of December, 1,718. 

10. Sweden gained by the death of Chaiies a reformation of her 
government, and a salutary limitation of the arbitrary power of the 
sovereign. His sister Ulrica succeeded to the throne, and raised to 
it her husband, Frederick landgrave of Hesse-Cassel. The states 
made peace with all the hostile powers. The czar was now engaged 
in a war with Persia, in the view of obtaining the command and 
commerce of the Caspian. This object he accomplished, and gained, 
by cession from the sophi, three provinces of the Persian empire. 

Peter the great died January 28, 1,725, and was succeeded by the 
czarina Catherine, formely a Livonian captive, who possessed merit 
equal to her elevated station. His only son, Alexis Petrovvitz, had 
been condemned to lose his life for treason, and the mode of his 



MODERN HISTORY. 227 

death, which immediately followed his condemnation, is unknown. 
Russia owes to Peter the great all those beneticial improvements 
which have raised her, within the period of a century, from barba- 
rism and obscurity, to the highest rank among the powers of Europe. 



SECTION LXVII. 

A VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE AND LITERATURE 
IN EUROPE, FROM THE END OF THE FIFTEENTH TO THE 
END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. We have seen how much literature and the sciences wore in- 
debted to the art of printing for their advancement and dissemination 
toward the end of the tifteenth century. (Sect. XXXIV., ^ 12.) 
From that period classical learning, criticism, poetry, and history, 
made a rapid progress in most of the kingdoms of Europe. Philos- 
ophy did not keep pace with literature. The dogmas of Aristotle 
had kept possession of the schools till the seventeenth century, and 
had engrafted themselves even on the doctrines of theology. It 
required a superior genius to dissipate the mist of error, and to 
break the fetters on all advancement in useful science, buch was 
the great Bacon lord Verulam, the most profound philosopher, and 
perhaps the most universal genius, that any age has produced. We 
lind in his works an estimate of the actual attainments in all the 
scienceSj a catalogue of the desiderata in each department, and a 
detail ot the methods best suited to prosecute improvement and new 
discoveries. In tine, we owe to Bacon the sure method of advanc- 
ing in knowledge by experiment and the observation of nature, 
instead of system and conjecture. 

2. The philosophy of bacon produced its effect only by slew de- 
grees. Gassendi, though he exposed the doctrines of Aristotle, was 
stili a theorist, and attempted to revive the atomic system of Epicu- 
rus. Des Cartes followed hi the same track, and reared a whimsical 
theory of the universe, produced, as he supposed, by the fortuitous 
combination of atoms, moving in vortices through the immensity of 
space ; a theory recommended by the ingenuity with which it was 
supported, aud its apparently solving many ot the phenomena of 
nature. A century before Copernicus had published his system of 
the planets, which, though condemned by the church, was received 
by Des Cartes and the best philosophers. 

3. Galileo, in 1,609, constructed telescopes (Sect. XXXIV., § 5), 
and discovered the satellites of the larger planets, Jujiter and Saturn, 
and their motions, for which he was rewarded by imprisonment, as a 
supporter of the Copernican heresy. Kepler investigated the laws 
which regulated the motions of the planets, and the analogy between 
their distances from the sun and periodical revolutions. Ihe discov- 
eries in astronomy led to improvements in navigation, and a great ad- 
vancement of geometry in ail its branches. Napier, in 1,614, abridg- 
ed calculation by the invention of logarithms. The Toricellian ex- 

Eeriments determined the weight of the atmosphere. In 1,61& 
larvey discovered the c^cuhUion of the blood. 
4i The Royal Society^ which originated from private meetings of 
the EBglish philosophers, was incorporated by Charles II , in 1,662, 
and has greatly contributed to the advancement of the sciences and 



228 MODERN HISTORY. 

useful arts. The Royal Academy of Sciences was instituted in 1 ,6GG 
by Lewis XIV. Similar institutions were founded in most of the coun- 
tries of Europe; among which there is a communication of science, 
and a laudable emulation excited by the publication of their transac- 
tions. 

5. In the end of the seventeenth century arose the immortal Newton, 
who, by exhausting the most important discoveries of the laws of na- 
ture, has rendered it impossible for posterity to eclipse his fame. He 
had discovered, before the age of twenty-tour, the theory of universal 
graviiation, a principle which solves the chief phenomena of nature, 
and connects and regulates ihe whole machine of the universe, riis 
theory of light and colours is the fouodation of the whole science of 
optics, and his Principia the basis and elements of all philosophy. 

6. Locke, the contemporary of Newton, successfully a}>piied lord 
Bacou'S mode of invesiij;aiion to the study of the human mind ; and, 
utteriy rejecting the systems of the old philosophers, examined the 
soul i)y attending to its operations. From the simple fact that ail 
knowledge is progressive, and th:«t an infant gains its ideas gradually 
tbroagh the medium of its senses, he (\vew the general conclusion, 

'that tnere are no innate ideas in the mind, but that all are either mi- 
inediate perceptions conveyed by the senses, or acts of the mind re- 
flectmg on those perceptions^ a conclusion which has been obstinate- 
ly comroverted, chieily by drawing from it false consequences, but 
wliich has never yet been shaken. 

7. The progress of literature in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries was equally remarkable with that of science and philoso- 
ptiy. Trissino was the hcsi of the moderns who composed an epic 
poem in the language of his country, LUlalia liberata da ijoli^ and 
the first Italian wiio wrote a I'egular tragedy, Sophonisba. Of merit 
much superior to tiie epic poem of Trissino is the Lusiad of the 
Portuguese Camoens, a work abounding wiih passages of high poetic 
beauty, and displaying a sublime imagination. In tiie end of the six- 
teenth century Spain proiiuc-'d the Araucana of Erciila, an epic poem 
of great inequality of meiit, but frequently exhibiting novelty of 
figures and bold conceptions. The subject is a revolt of the Peru- 
vians against the Spanijsrds. 

8. Bill the principal epic poems of this age are the Orlando Fur 
rioso of Ariosto, and the Gienisalemine LAberatu of Tasso : the former 
a work most irregular in its plan, most unconnected nnd desultory in 
its conduct, most extravagant and absurd in the ciiaracters of its per- 
sons, but displaying alternately every excellence of poetry in the 
various departments of the descriptive, comic, satiric, moral, and 
sublime, i'he Gienisalemine of Tasso, of a regular plan and perli?ct 
polisn in its structure, has been frequently brought in comparison 
with the equally highly hnished poem of the JEneid; nor does the 
Italian sutfor much in the comparison. There is a romantic charm 
both in the incidents and characters of his poem, which must ever ren- 
der it a favourite with all readers of genuine taste. 

9. From the time of Tasso the genius of epic poetry lay dormant 
for a century, till the days of iVIilton; for the Fairy (^ueen of Spenser 
is rather a romantic allegory than an epic poem. 'Fhe Paradise Lost,' 
compared with the great poems of antiquity, is more irregular and 
less perfect as a whole than the Iliad^ Mneid, and Odyssey ; but ex- 
hiuits, in detached parts, more of the sublime and beautiful than any 
of them. It has been well remarked, that the inequality of this poem 
arises in a great measure from the nature of the subject, of which 



MODERN HISTORY. SSt 

seme parts are the most lofty which can enter into the human mind, 
and othei-s could only have been supported by a laborious elegance 
and polish, which the author's genius could not stoop to bestow. 

10. Lyric poetry was cultivated in the sixteenth century, in Italy, 
France, and England, but with no great success. The less poenjs of 
Ariosto and Tasso have no tincture of the genius displayed in tiieir 
greater works. Chiabrera is perhaps the only lyric poet ol this 
period that merits distinction. In France, Ronsard and Bellay imi- 
tated Petrarch with all his false wit, but without his passion. Marot, 
however, in the naivete and easy vein of his humour, is justly ac- 
counted the master of La Fontaine. In the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century French vei"sihcation received a considerable polish 
from the compositions of Racan, and yet more from those of iUal- 
herbe ; and toward the end of that century lyric poetry was cultivat- 
ed with high success by La Farre, Chapelle, and Bachaumont, Chau- 
lieu and Gresset. 

11. The English lyric poetry of the sixteenth century, of Spenser, 
Surrey, Harrington, Sydney, and even Shakespeare, is harsh and 
imharmonious; nor is much improvement discernible till the time of 
Cowley and Waller. The merit of Cowley as a lyric poet was too 
highly prized in his own age, and is underrated in ours. With all his 
false wit, pedantry, and obscurity, he is often both sublime and 
pathetic in no moderate degree. The lyric ode in the third book of 
the Davideis has few parallels in the English language. As a prose 
writer, Cowley shines in that age with superior excellence. Waller 
is more polished and harmonious than any of the preceding or con- 
temporary poets, but his wit is quaint, and his elevation too frequent- 
ly bombast. 

1 2. Dry den, in the end of the seventeenth century, carried lyric 

{)oetry to perfection. His Ode on St Cecilia's day surpasses all the . 
yric compositions both of ancient and modern times. He shines 
conspicuously as a satirist, possessing the keen and caustic wit, with- 
out the indelicacy, of Juvenal or Horace. His vei"sions from Chau- 
cer and Boccacio are easy and spirited, and display a happy talent 
for poetical narrative. His numerous dramatic pieces, though exliib- 
ithig both invention and poetic beauty, are deficient in true passion, 
and in the just delineation of character. 

13. At the end of the sixteenth century the drama in Europe be- 
gan to furnish a rational entertainment. At that period. Lope de 
Vega and Calderona in Spain, and Shakespeare in England, produced 
those pieces, which, though irregular and stained with blemishes, 
are at this day the admiration of their countrymen. The Spanish 
plays of that age have been a rich mine for succeeding dramatists, 
both among the French, Italians, and English. The merits of Shakes- 
peare are familiar to every person of taste. Ignorant of the rules 
of his art, he is the pure child of nature, and thus exhibits often her 
caprices and absurdities; but these are redeemed by the most trans- 
cendent beauties. The old English drama is, with all its irregular- 
ities, incomparably superior to the modern, both in touching the pas- 
sions and in displaying just views of human character. The persons 
are more discriminated by various and appropriate features, tmd the 
nicer shades of nearly resembling characters are thus more distinctly 
marked. The mixture of the comic and tragic in the same plot, 
though condemned by modern practice, is a great source of pleasure 
in the pieces of Shakespeare and his contemporaries; nor is there any 
thing in such a mixture but what is consonant to nature. To a per- 

U 



230 MODERN HISTORY 

son of true taste it will be found often to heighten, by contrast, the 
capital emotion to be excited. 

14. The compositions for the French stage, in the end of the 
seventeenth century, are strictly conformable to dramatic rules; 
and many of those pieces are models of a correct and polished taste. 
The morality of the French drama of that age and the next is in gen- 
eral purer than ours ; but their pieces are deticient in the nice delin- 
eation of character, and in the power of exciting the passions. 
Corneille and Racine brought the French tragedy to its highest ele- 
vation ; as Moliere the comedy. Corneille has more grandeur and 
sublimity than his rival, who excels him in the tender and pathetic. 
The comedies of Moliere, highly amusing in the present time, were 
more particularly valuable in the age when they were written, and 
had a sensible effect in correcting its prevailing follies; the pedantry 
of the ladies, tiie ignorance and quackery of the physicians, and the 
pride and arrogance of the French noblesse. The last of the emi- 
nent dramatists who adorned PVance in the seventeenth century was 
the elder Crebillon, who drew many sublime and impassioned scenes 
from the source of terror ; and who, in ail his works, was as emi- 
nently the friend of virtue as his worthless son has been the pander 
of vice. 

15. The most eminent historians of the sixteenth century are, 
De Thou, Davila, and Machiavel. De Thou has written the annals 
of his own time, from 1,545 to 1,607. with great judgment, and in 
most elegant Latin composition. The history of Davila, the annals 
of the civil wars of France in the time of the league, though the 
work of a partisan, is composed with no common degree of candour 
and impartiaUty. In the beginning of the sixteenth century Machia- 
vel wrote his History of Florence, of which the style is classical and 
the matter well arranged, but too much interrupted by reflections and 
political discussions. In the seventeenth century Bentivoglio com- 
posed his History of the Civil Wars of Flanders, with the most ac- 
curate knowledge of his subject, perspicuity of narrative, and ele- 
gance of style. Among the English historians in the beginning of 
that period 'Raleigh is the most distinguished ; though his History of 
the \Vorld is, in point of style, inferior to the judgment shown in the 
arrangement of the matter. In the latter part of the seventeenth 
century. Clarendon's History of the Rebellion is a work of the high- 
est merit, whether we consider the authenticity of the facts, the deep 
knowledge of human nature displayed in the dehneation of the 
characters, or the grave and manly eloquence of the style. If, in 
the opposition of political opinions, he has been deeniisd too partial 
in defence of his sovereign, even his adversaries have admitted his 
perfect integrity, and entire conviction of the rectitude of the cause 
which he supports. 



HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 



SECTION I. 

A GENERAL VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF MANKIND IN THE 
PRIMEVAL AGES. 

1. In contemplating those great outlines of history, the memorable 
and important events which have^ determined the condition of man- 
kind, and rendered the aspect of the moral and intellectual world 
such as we now view it, we shall tind abundant subjects for observa- 
tion and e flection. In many cases we shall be obliged to have re- 
course to conjecture, founded on diflferent degrees of probability ; 
and some of those probabilities may be so corroborated by general 
existing circumstances as to amount almost to certainty. 

2. OT the primeval state of mankind we know little from historical 
information, and can form an opinion of it only from conjecture 
founded on the nature of things. From the extremely slow progress of 
civilization it is reasonable to suppose that men must have existed a 
long time before they began to write the history of such transactions 
and events as they deemed most important. All their care and atten- 
tion would at first be employed in providing the means of supplying 
their physical wants, and of'^ rendering their existence tolerable. In 
that state of simple nature they would not think of transmitting an ac- 
count of their actions to posterity, and could hardly have any oc- 
currences worth recording. Here our knowledge of human nature 
and of human wants will supply the deficiency of history. From 
the experience of our own wants, aad of the means of supplying them, 
we may infer almost with certainty, that habitations would be built as 
a shelter from the inclemency of the weather : and in flirt we find 
this to be the case in all those countries which are at present occupied 
by savages. In process of time some attention would be given to 
the cultivation of^the soil, to make the earth produce such vegetables 
as were fit for the food of man. The arts most essential to the com- 
fortable existence of the human species would be invented before 
the use of letters. 

3. From all these circumstances we may reasonably suppose that 
the first rude sketch of history would be the traditionary tales de- 
livered from father to son through successive generations ; and these 
in reality constitute the basis of the first historical records. Such are 
the fabulous relations of the first historians among the Greeks. It 
appears that the Greeks had adopted the historical legends of the 
Egyptian priests, who were accustomed to cover tiieir religion and 
learning with the mystical veil of allegory ; and that in many cases 
they mistook the Egyptian mode of allegorizing the early periods of 
history, and have presented to posterity an absurd and monstrous 
tissue of fabulous narrative of kings who never reigned, and of heroes 
of celestial descent. 



232 MODERN HISTORY. 

4. Superstition being natural to man before tbe mind is enligntened 
by philosophy, it is no wonder that the writings of the first historians 
contain many relations of the communication of gods and demi-gods 
with mankind, and of the frequent interference of supernatural 
agents in human affairs. The vivid imaginations of the early Greek 
authors, heated with superstition, and unrestrained by philosophy, 
expanded into wild exuberance, and fabricated the most absurd and 
ridiculous tales. Hence the period of time which elapsed between 
the establishment of political and civil society in Greece, and ths 
Trojan war may be justly denominated the fabulous age ; and indeed 
most part of what is related concerning that war, has evident marks 
of fiction stamped upon it ; for all the historical accounts of it are 
originally ibunded on the poems of Homer. No writings can claim 
the title of an authentic history of Grecian affairs before the Per- 
sian wars. The histories of all other heathen nations were not less 
fabulous and absurd than those of the Greeks ; and indeed all that 
we know concerning them has been transmitted to us through the 
medium of Greek writers. 

5. When we consider the general state of the world in the early 
ages, with respect to political, commercial, and literary communica- 
tion, however we may amuse ourselves with perusing the accounts 
transmitted to us of the transactions of remote antiquity, reason tells 
us that they are nothing but fiction or historical romance. Until 
the Greeks (who were the inventors, or at least the improvers of 
arts and sciences) had attained a considerable degree of civilization 
and opulence, and had begun to cultivate the arts of conveniency, 
luxury, and elegance, little credit is due to profane history. This 
period cannot be fixed long before the first Persian war, which hap- 
pened about 503 yeare before the birth of Christ. For information 
relative to ^he state of mankind, and the events which occurred 
before that period, we must have recourse to the writings of the 
^ews. 

6. This consideration naturally leads us to turn our attention to 
those ancient records of the Jews, ^vhich have always been deemed 
sacred by them, and of which the authenticity has been acknowl- 
edged by the generality of manki»d, vvho have perused them with 
due attention. The Jevvi«l» annals are the most ancient of all that 
have been transnoitted to us, and the most intrinsically rational and 
probable. They likewise contain a series of transactions and events 
equally curious and interesting. In them we find the only rational 
account of the creation of the world, and the beginning of things j 
of the dispersion of mankind, and the origin of ancient nations. 



SECTION II. 

SUMMARY VIEW OF JEWISH HISTORY. 

1, The Israehtes, or ancient Jews, were those distinguished peo- 
ple, who were favoured by the immediate care of tlie Almighty, 
and conducted by his especial guidance to Judea, a place of resi- 
dence promised to their remote ancestors. In consequence of their 
obstinacy, idolatry, and wickedness, and more particularly for the 
rejection of their Mt^ssiah, they were suIkIvk d by the Romans, after 
sustaining a siege in their metropolis, Jerusalem, unparalleled in the 



MODERN HISTORY. 233 

annals of history for its distresses, calamities, and slaughter. Jerusa- 
lem was reduced to ruins, the Jewish government was totally sub- 
verted, and the surviving people were dispersed over most parts of" 
the world. Their descendants still remain unmixed with the rest 
of mankind, and are marked by their original features of national 
peculiarity : they adhere with the most zealous attachment to the 
religion of their forefathers, and cherish the hopes of restoration to 
their former prospexiiy and country by means of a glorious and tri- 
uniphant Dehverer. 

1. They preserve, with the most watchful care, the sacred books 
of their ancient write re. . And astonishing, very astonishing it is to 
obsei-ve^ that ill the prophetical ports of these sacred books are contained 
all the events before mentioned (f ilieir extraordinary history. Their 
particular conduct, and the vicissitudes of their national atiair^, were 
predicted by their prophets, and more especially by Moses, their 
great law-giver, in the infancy of the world, at the vast distance of 
thirty-three centuries from the present times. The accomplisiiment 
of these predictions bears the fullest and most striking evidence to 
the truth and inspiration of their prophets, and illustrates the dis- 
pensations of Providence to his chosen people. 

3. These sacred books contain likewise predictions the most exact 
of the character, oflice, and actions of the Messiah of the Jews, the 
great Law-giver of the christians, the appointed Saviour of the world. 

4. Such interesting circumstances as these, in addition to the pe- 
culiar nature of the Jewish polity, consiilered as a divine institution, 
the curious manners and customs, and the memorable actions of the 
descendants of Abraham, the most ancient people of whom we have 
any authentic accounts, combine to place these books tirst in order 
of importance, as in order of time, if we consider the great antiqui- 
ty^ the subjects, and the characters of the u-riters, of these hooks, and the 

{)lace which they occupy in the order ot' general history, particular- 
y as they stand connected with the christian revelation, they will be 
found to deserve our very earnest attention. 



SECTION m. 

THE ANTIQUITY OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

1. No writings of any other nation can be brought into competi- 
tion, in respect of antiquity, with those of the Jews. In proof of 
this assertion it may be remarked, that Moses lived more than a 
thousand years' before the age of Herodotus, who is reputed the 
father of Grecian history. As another proof of the priority of the 
Jews to the Greeks, it appears by the confession of the Greek vvri- 
ters, that they received the letters of their alphabet from the Phoe- 
nicians ; and there are very sufficient grounds for believing that the 
Phoenicians derived the art of writing from the Jews. The learned 
and acute Porphyry, who was an equal enemy both to Jews and 
christians, and much attached to the learning of Greece, candidly 
acknowledged that Moses, and the prophets who immediately suc- 
ceeded him, flourished nearly a thousand years before any of the 
Greek philosophers. 

2. The books which compose the canon of the Jewish scriptures 
have the concurrence of all antiquity in favour of their originality. 
*rhey were delivered to the Hebrews in their own language, with 

U 3 30 ' 



234 MODERN HISTORY. 

every mark of genuineness, by the pei-sons whose names they bear ; 
and those persons, by recording contemporary events, constantly 
appealed to well-known proofs of their regard to truth. The pro- 
phetical books in particular contain the evidences of their inspira- 
tion, as well as of the integrity and piety of their authors. The ex- 
ternal proofs are clear and strong, as well as the internal ; in conse- 
quence of which all these books have always been preserved with 
the greatest care, and have been held in the highest veneration. 

3. It is no less curious than important to remark the traditions 
preserved in the pagan world, which contirm the truth of the Pen- 
tateuch, or the five books written by Moses. The Chaldeans pre- 
served the history of their Xisurus, who was the Noah of Moses. 
The Egyptians asserted that Mercury had engraved his doctrine 
upon columns, which had resisted the violence of a deluge. The 
Chinese historians record that Peyrun, a mortal beloved and protect- 
ed by the gods, saved himself in a vessel from the general inundation. 
The Hindoos say that the waters of the ocean spread over the surface 
of the earth, except one mountain to the north ; that one woman 
and seven men saved themselves on this mountain, with certain 
plants and animals. They add, in speaking of their god Vishnon, that 
at the deluge he transformed himself into a tish, and conducted the 
vessel which preserved the relics of the human race. This vessel 
is likewise a subject of tradition in the northern parts of the worl^'^ 
Sulivan's View of Nature, Letter 67. 

4. That the sacrifice of animals was necessary to appease the 
ofl'ended gods, was a religious tenet very general and very ancient. 
The account of the long lives of the patriarchs is confirmed by wri- 
ters of various countries. Their primitive manners, and their 
mode of performing sacrifices, and ofiering prayers to the great Au- 
thor of nature on the summits of mountains, and in the retirements 
of groves, agree with the descriptions of Homer, and many other 
early writers. Zoroaster, «the great teacher of the ancient Persians, 
derived from the books of Moses the first principles of his religion, 
his cferemonial laws, his account of the creation, of the first parents 
of mankind, of the patriarchs, and particularly of Abraham, whose 
pure religion he professed to restore. 

5. In the attributes and characters of the heathen gods may be 
founil allusions to the ancient expressions of the Hebrew scriptures. 
In the customs, laws, and ceremonies of many other nations may be 
traced a resemblance to the Mosaical institutions. In the accounts 
of the deities of' the Pagans, and the early heroes and benefactors of* 
mankind, particularly in those which adorn the pages of Grecian 
history, are represented many of the patriarchs and illustrious per- 
sons of scripture. Many principles of the most eminent philoso- 
phers, many fictions of the most celebrated poets, both of Greece 
and Rome, and many institutions of the most renowned heathen law- 
givers, cannot fail, by their circumstances of resemblance, to direct 
our attention to the great legislator of the Jews. The most venera- 
ble and ancient traditions of the uorld seem to contain the parts of 
one original and unifbrm system, which was broken by the disper- 
sion of the primeval families after the deluge, and corrupted by the 
levolution of ages. They were the, streams which flowed tfirough 
the vari(jus countries of the earth, from the great source of Mosa- 
ical history.* 

* See .^tillingfleet, b. iii, c. 5 ; Bryant's Mytholo^ j Maurice's lacUatt 
AiTtitpjjties ; Raleigh's History of the World, p. 71. 



MODERN HISTORY. 235 

6. Josephus^ the Jewish historian, flourished in the reign of the 
. emperor Vespasian. He was a person ol great learning and emi- 
nence, and conducted his inquiries w ith singular diligence, industry, 
and care. He corroborates the testimony of the sacred writers, and 
illustrates their truth ; as he not only gives a regular detail of the most 
remarkable transactions of the Jews, but introduces considerable 
notices of all those people, w ith whom they formed alliances, or car- 
ried on wars. In his treatise against Apion he exposes the contra- 
dictions which occurred in the Egyptian, Chaldean, and Phoenician 
records ; vindicates the authority of the Jewish scriptures ; describes 
I tlie care which was taken in their preservation ; and states their 
superior pretensions, more particularly in point of antiquity, to the 
respect and reverence of mankind.* 



SECTION IV^ 

THE SUBJECTS OF THE BOOKS, AND CHARACTERS OF THE 

WRITERS. 

1. The subjects of the books of the Old Testament are truly 
wonderful and striking, and of such a nature as to surpass all munu- 
ments of profane learning, equally in importance as in antiquity. 
Of all parts which compose the sacred canon, none are more curious 
than Genesis^ the first l)ook written by JMoses ; because it contains a 
sketch of the earliest history of mankind. There stand recorded 
the creation of the world and its inhabitants, the fall of our lirst pa- 
rents from their state of innocence and happiness, and their baiiish- 
ment from the garden of Eden ; the re^)eated and signal promises of 
a future I'estorer of the lost blessings ol mankind ; the history of the 
patriarchs, honoured by the revelations of Jehovah ; the description 
of the general deluge ; the dispersion of the progeiiitoi-s of the hu- 
man race over all the eaith ; tlie adoption of a particular lamily to 
perpetuate the remembrance, and establish the worship of the true 
God, and their prosperous settlement in Egypt. Instances indeed are 
mentioned of early depravity, and of the violence of the passions, 
attended with suitable punishments; yet society appears under its 
simplest form in point of manners, and we discern no traces of the 
luxury and fdse refinement of subsequent times. 

2. In the books of the Jews is recorded an account of the descen- 
dants of Israel ; a race of men selected from all others, and favoured 
with successive revelations of the divhie will. Here are shown the 
instances of their fidelity, perverseness, and disobedience ; their 
glory and triumphs; their disgraces, and their subjection to foreign 
powers. Here is seen the superintendance of a divine and especial 
Providence watching over innocence, suspending wrath, and taking 
the most signal vengeance upon unrepented offences. Here are 
developed the fellings of the most virtuous persons, and the obdurate 
wickedness of conrirmed sinnei-s. Here are displayed the mixed 
characters even of the most excellent men, the eminent examples of 
faith and piety, of courage and patience, in the conduct of Abraham, 
Lot, Job, Joseph, Moses, David, Hezekiah, Josiah, and Datdel. 

* Kett's Interpreter of Prophecy, vol. i, p. 200. Lardner, vol, vii, p» 
30, 259, &c. 



236 MODERN HISTORY. 

And most interesting is it to observe, that the knowledge of the 
one true God was communicated to this people, and preserved by 
them alone ; that they had the most sublime ideas of his nature 
and attributes; that a magnificent temple was erected to his honour; 
a regular service was instituted; holy ceremonies were performed; 
an order of priests of one parlicular liuDily was consecrated ; a pure 
worship was established by his express command, and regulated by 
his particular laws. Thus were the Jews enlightened by a knowl- 
edge of the true object of divine worship; and thus were the purity 
and holiness of their religious ordinances conducted, at a time when 
all other nations presented a wide scene of gross superstition and 
mental darkness ; when the rest of the human race, and even the 
most intelligent and polished nations of Egypt and Greece, showed 
the most abject degradation of their nature, by prostrating them- 
selves before idols of their own workmanship ; and abused the evi- 
dence of sense, and the faculty of reason, by imputing to wood and 
stone the attributes of divine power. 

3. We see likewise a succession of prophets raised up among the 
Jews, to communicate the divine will, to warn them of evils, and to 
announce to them blessings to come. These holy men, ever obedi- 
ent to the call of Heaven, rose superior to all worldly considerations; 
and with a spirit of intrepidity and independence, which clearly 
showed that Heaven vv;is the source of Iheir reliance, they executed 
their sacred commissions, unawed by the threats of kings, or the 
resentment of the people. They loretold remote events in times 
when they appeared most improbable ever to take place, and when 
no human foresight, and no calculation of chances, could guide them 
to the discovery of the particular afl'airs, which fullllled their pre- 
dictions. Moses, in a long and most interesting detail of threats and 
promises, foretold the exact manner in which his people were ordain- 
ed to l)e nappy or miserable, according as they followed or disobeyed 
the divine laws. At a subsequent perioti, when .lerusalem was laid 
in ruins, and the Jews were groaning under the sorrows o( the Baby- 
lonish captivity, Isaiah solemnly addressed Cyrus by his n;une, more 
than a hundred years before his birth, as the deliverer of Isniel, and 
the new founder of the Holy City.* When Babylon was shining in 
the meridian of its glory, and iis monarclis ruled over all the nations 
of the east with the most desjjotic sway, the same prophet predicted 
the total subversion of their emi'ire, and the complete desolation of 
their vast metropolis. That all these and numerous other predictions 
were exactly veriiied by the events, are tiuths contirmed by the evi- 
dence of profane as well as sacred history. 

4. The same inspired prophets had a mucii more grand and im- 
portant obji>ct in view, than to declare the future dispensations of 
Pro\idence to one nation in particular; for they announced, in terms 
at lirst dark and niysterious, but progressively more clear and cir- 
cumstantial, the future birth of a Messiah, a glorious king, a divine 
legislator, w ho was to abolish the sacrilices and religious institutions 
of the Jews, and to proclaim and establish a general law for the 
observance ^md hnppiness of all mankind. Here the evangelists con- 
trii:ute their aid to illustrate the declarations of the prophets, and 
unite the history of the Old with that of the New Testament, in 
the most close and indissoluble bonds of union. 

* Isaiah, B. C. 757. Cyrus, B. C. 589. Kett's Interpreter of Prophecy, 
•»ol. i, p. 130. 



MODERN HISTORY. 231 

5. The historical books of scripture, coasidered from the time of 
the giving of the law to Moses to the reformation in tlie worship and 
government by Nehemiah, after the Babylonish captivity, contain a 
surapiary account of the Jewish affairs for a period of eleven centu- 
ries.* They were evidently not intended to give a complete detail 
of national transactions, as their writers had a more sublime and im- 
portant end in view. To illustrate the prophecies, by relating cir- 
cumstances which existed at the time when they were uttered, and 
to show their accomplishment ; to record various revelations ot^ the 
divine will, and to describe the state of religion among the Hebrews, 
and the various dispensations of Providence, in public as well as in 
private occurrences, seem to have been their chief objects. Hence 
it is that the chain of history is sometimes broken into detached parts, 
and its detail is interrupted by a recital of private transactions. The 
books of scripture occasionally assume the Ibrm, and comprise the 
beauties of a very interesting kind of biography. Of this nature are 
the several accounts of Job, Kuih, and Esther ; but they are tar from 
being unconnected with the principal design of the sacred writers; 
inasmuch as they show that the same divine Providence which presid- 
ed over the nation at large, extended its particular care to individ- 
uals, and that the examples of private virtue were inseparable Irom 
the great interests of public welfare and happiness. 

6. The Israelites, lor many ages separated irom the rest of man- 
kind by their peculiar institutions, were liUle acquainted with com- 
merce, and made small advances in those arts, which, with a retine- 
ment, and a diversity of employments, introduce luxury and corrup- 
tion ot manners. They were governed by equal laws, and possesN^ed 
nearly equal property. They admitted no hereditary distinction of 
rank, except in lavour of the regal tribe of Judali, and the sacer- 
dotal lamily of Levi. Their occupations from the earliest times were 
of the most simple kind, and consisted in piisturage and agriculture. 
To guide the plough, and tend the flock, were employments which, 
recommended by the innocence of primeval manners, and dignihed 
by length of time, were exercised hy kings, prophets, and generals. 
Moses was called from teeding his dock, to conduct the Israelites to 
the promised land; Elisha forsook the plough, to be invested with 
the mantle of prophecy ; and Gideon lelt the threshing-tioor, to lead 
the army of his country to battle. > 

7. The country of Judea presented a scene diversified by fruit- 
ful vallies, barren rocks, and lofty mountains, and was watered by 
numerous streams. It produced the palm-tree, the balsam, the vine, 
the olive, the tig, and all the fruits which abound in the more tem- 
perate regions of Asia. From the labours of the tield, and from cul- 
tivating the vine, the attention of the Israelites was regularly called 
by religious worship, which was intimately blended with the civil 
constitution of the state. The splendour of their public services, the 
pomp and magniticence of their rites and ceremonies, the stated re- 
currence of their various festivals and sacritices, the sabbath, the 
passover, the celebration ot'the sabbatical yeai', and the jubilee ; and- 
more than all, the constant experience of divine interposition, hlled 
their minds with the most awful and grand ideas, and gave them the^ 
deepest impressions of the majesty, power, goodness, and justice of 
God. 

* Moses, B. C. 1,571. Nehemiah, B. C. 546. Gray's Key to the Old 
Testament, p. 124. 



238 JEWISH HISTORY. 

8. These were the circumstances which, combining to form theii' 
national manners, had the greatest influence upon their writings. 
The historical style is marked by the purest simpHcity of ideas, oc- 
casionally raised to a tone of elevation. In the works of Moses there 
is a majesty of thought, which is most strikingly expressed in plain 
and energetic language. In the prophetical writings the greatest 
splendour and sublimity of composition are conspicuous. They are 
enriched by those glowing images, and raised by that grandeur of 
diction, which charm the classical reader in the most admired pro- 
ductions of Greece and Rome. The royal psalmist is eloquent, di^- 
nitied, and pathetic. All the beauties of composition unite in Isaian, 
such is the majesty of his ideas, the propriety, beauty, and fertility 
of his imagery, and the elegance of his language, employed upon the 
noblest subjects which could possibly engage our attention. Jere- 
miah excels in those expressions of tenderness, which excite, with 
the most pleasing enthusiasm, the feelings of compassion. 

9. By such peculiar beauties of composition are recommended 
the most interesting details of events, and the most faithful deline- 
ations of characters. The great Creator calls all things into ex- 
istence with his omnipotent word. The first parents of mankind, 
innocent and happy, are blessed with his immediate converse, ana 
enjoy the blooming groves of Paradise. Joseph, the pious, the 
chaste, and the wise, after having undergone great afflictions, and 
rising by his extraordinary merit to an othce of the highest honour 
in the court of Pharaoh, discovers himself in a manner the most 
pathetic to his repentant brethren, and is restored to his aged and 
affectionate father, whom he invites into Egypt to share his pros- 
perity. The children of Israel, guided by the divine Power, which 
veils its glory in a cloud, pass sately through the Red Sea, in which 
the host of the impious Pharaoh are overwhelmed. Upon the sum- 
mit of Mount Sinai Moses receives the two tables of the command- 
ments, amid the thunder, lightning, clouds, and darkness, which 
obscure the great Jehovah from his eyes. The royal psalmist sings 
the wonders of creation, the powers of his God, and his own de- 
feats and triumphs. The peaceful and prosperous Solomon, whose 
renown was extended over all the east, rears the structure of the 
magnificent temple ; and amid the multitudes of his adoring sub- 
jects consecrates it to the service of the one true God, in a prayer 
which equally attests his wisdom and his piety. In the visions of 
futurity Isaiah beholds the dehverance of the chosen people ; the 
complete destruction of the great empire of Babylon, by which 
thoy were enslaved ; and the promised Messiah, the Saviour of 
mankind, sometimes depressed by want and sorrow, and sometimes 
arrayed in the emblems of divine majesty and power. He predicts 
the hnal recal of the Jews to their native land, and the wide diffu- 
sion of the christian faith. Jeremiah sinks a weeping mourner over 
the ruins of his native city, deplores its calamities, and consoles his 
countrymen by expressly declaring, that they should never cease 
to be a nation to the end of tiie world. Daniel explains to Bel- 
shazzar the mystic characters inscribed upon the walls of his palace, 
and views, in his wide prospect of future times, the fates of the four 
great empires of the world. Cjrus, long before announced by 
Isaiah, as the great subverter of the Babylonish empire, and the 
restorer of the glory of Jerusalem, publishes his decree for the 
restoration of the captive Jews; and the holy city and temple 
rise from their ruins with new grandeur and magnificence. The 



JEWISH HISTORY. 239 

Jews are settled and reformed by the pious care of Nehemiah, and 
the canon of the scriptures is closed by Malachi. This last of the 
prophets enjoins the strict observance of the law of Moses, till the 
great Precursor should appear, in the spirit of Elias, to announce 
the approach of the Messiah, who was to establish a new and an 
everlasting covenant* 

10. Such are a few of the interesting circumstances contained in 
the books of the Old Testament, which engage our attention, charm 
our imagination, and gratify our curiosity, while they confirm our 
belief in the great evidences of revelation, in all these works 
we may remark the bright truths of religious instruction, shining 
forth amid the venerable simplicity of the most ancient history ; a 
history unrivalled for the grandeur of the ideas which it conveys, 
the liveliness of its descriptions, and the number of its beautiful and 
sublime images. 

11 . In these books of sacred history there is an impartialily of 
narrative, which is an undoubted characteristic of truth.' If we 
read the Lives of Plutarch, or the History of Livy, we soon dis- 
cover that these writers composed their works under the influence 
of many prejudices in favour of their respectives countries. A veil 
is thrown over the defects of their heroes, but their virtues are 
placed in a strong light, and painted in vivid colours. In the scrip- 
tures, on the contrary, both of the Old and the ]New Testament, the 
strictest impartiality prevails. The vices of David, JSolomon, and 
their successors, are neither concealed nor palliated. I'heie is no 
ostentation of vanity, no parade of panegyric ; virtue charnis with 
her native beauty, and vice requires no disguise to conceal her de- 
formity. The characters of persons are sketched, and the effects of 
the passions are representee! without reserve or concealment; and 
the moral to be drawn from each descrii)tion is so obvious, as to ac- 
count for the frequent omission of remarks and applications. The 
abject condition of the Jews, when prohibited the use of weapons of 
war by the victorious Philistines ; their relapses into idolatry, their 
perverseness of disposition, and their various defeats and captivities, 
with every circumstance of private as well as public disgrace, are 
recorded without palliation or reserve. Always rising superior to 
the motives which induce other authors to violate the purity and de- 
grade the majesty of truth, these writers keep one great and most 
important end constantly in view, and show the various methods by 
which the providence of God eflected his gracious designs; how he 
produced good from evil, and emj'ioyed the sins and follies of man- 
kind as the instruments of his gracious purposes. 

12. An acquaintance with the affairs of the Jewish nation forms 
the first link in the chain of ancient records. Thus we may observe 
the connexion which subsists between the branches of sacred and 
profane history. We place the works of pagan writers in their 
proper situation, and give them additional value, by making them 
subservient to the cause of religion, and instrumental in the illustra- 
tion of revealed truth. If the student is not called upon by profes- 
sional inducements to read the scriptures in their original languages, 
he may rest contented with translations ; and it seems to be a well- 

* For these very impressive passages of the Bible, see Gen. i, ii, xliv, 
xlv ; i^xod. xiv, XX ; the I'salms ; 1 Kings viii ; Isaiah ii, vi, ix, x, xi, xiv, 
xxviii, xxxii, xl, xliii, Ix, Ixi, Ixiii, Ixv, and more particularly liii ; La- 
meat, i, &c. ; Daniel v, vii ; Lzra vii ; Nehem. xiii ; Malachi iii, iv. 



240 JEWISH HISTORY. 

founded opinion among tlie learned, that he may rely with confidence 

upon the general fidelity of our English version. 

SECTION V. 
OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 

L An authentic account of the creation of the world, and of the 
primitive state of mankind is to be found only in the bible. There 
we are informed by Moses, the most ancient of all historians, that in 
the beginning God created the earth, the celestial bodies, and all * 
things both animate and inanimate ; that he created one man and one 
woman, named Adam and Eve, and placed them in a garden or para- 
dise, situated in the land of Eden. According to the best chronolo- 
gers the creation of the world was accomplished in the year. 4,004 
A. C. Adam and Eve soon transgressed the commands of God, and 
were therefore expelled from their delightful abode. 

2. Adam and Eve had two sons, whose names were Cain and Abel. 
Cain, the elder, was a husbandman, and Abel was a shepherd. Cain 
was of a vicious, Abel of a virtuous disposition. Hence the worship 
of Abel was more acceptable to the Lord than that of Cain. Insti- 
gated by envy and malice, Cain killed his brother when they were 
together in the field. For this atrocious crime he was severely pun- 
ished by the Lord, and became " a fugitive an^ a vagabond upon the 
earth." 

3. After the murder of Abel, another son, named Sefh, was born 
to Adam. From this time the descendants of Ailam multiplied rapid- 
ly, and at length spread over the face of the earth. 

4. One of the most remarkable circumstances of the former world 
is the longevity of the people. Adam lived 930 yeais, Soth 912 
years, Jared 962 years, Methuselah 969 years, Noah 950 years, 

5. In process of time mankind became so wicked that the Lord 
was resolved to destroy them by a deluge. Amid the general cor- 
ruption and depravity of the human race one virtuous man was found. 
Noah, the son of Lamtch, zealous for the reformation of men, be- 
came a preacher of righteousness to the degenerate and vicious 
people among whom he lived, and employed both his council and au- 
thority to reclaim them ; but in vain. And God commanded Noah to 
build a great ship, called an ark, and to put in it his wile, his three 
sons and their wives, and also a Jew males and females of every spe- 
cies of living things, that they might be saved from the general del- 
uge which would shortly overwhelm the whole earth, and extirpate 
all creatures. The flood continued 150 days, and then gradually sub- 
sided. Noah and his f imily, and all the animals, went out of the 
ark (2,343 A. C.) ; and in process of time they multiplied and spread 
over the surface of the earth, as we now see them. 

6. Of the literary and scientific attainments of the antediluvians 
we know very little. From the Mosaic account they do not appear 
to have been great. Moses has briefly informed us what was the 
origin of various customs and arts, and has recorded the names of 
their inventors. Lamech the son of Cain gave the first example of 
polygamy. Cain built the first city, and introduced the use of 
weights and measures. One of Cain''s grandsons " was the father of 
such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle." Jubal invented 
music; Tubal Cain the arts of forging iron, and of casting brass; 
and a woman called Naamah the arts of spinning aud weaving. "> 



JEWISH HISTORY. 241 

^Dheir religious rites were few and simple. They worshipped Go<J 
by prayer, and sacritices of certain animals. 



SECTION VI. 

FIRST AGES AFTER THE DELUGE. 

1. The remembrance of the three sons of Noah, the first foun- 
ders of the nations of the earth after the deluge, has been preserved 
among the several nations descended from them. Japhct peopled 
the greater part of the west, and continued long famous under the 
name of Japetus. Ham was reverenced as a deity by the Egyptians, 
under the title of Jupiter Hanimon. The memory of Shem has 
always been venerated by his descendants, the Hebrews, Avho de- 
rived their name iVom his son Heber. 

2. Except the building of the tower of Babel no event of impor- 
tance occui-s in the history of Moses during the space of nearly 
1,10U years from the deluge to the call of Abraham. About 100 
years alter the deluge the descendants of Noah were become nu- 
merous at the foot of Mount Ararat, and in the plain of Shinaar, ex- 
tending along the banks of the Euphrates and the Tigri'^. They 
found that the country was not extensive enough to contain them 
much longer, and therefore that they must separate. They agreed 
to build a veiy high tower, which might be a signal of union, if they 
should ever desire lo return to their native country. When they had 
raised the tower to a certain height, the workmen suddenly perceiv- 
ed that they tlid not understand the words of one another, and that 
all spoke dilferent language*. Consequently it was impossible to 
continue the work, and the people dispersed in difffrent directions. 
Hence the origin of dillerent languages, and the dispersion of the 
human race over the habitable globe. 

3. .Soon after this memorable event, Nimrod, a violent and impe- 
rious man, built the city of Habel, or Babylon, and laid the founda- 
tion of the tirst great empire, called the Babylonian, which was 
afterwards so famous in the history of the Jews. 



SECTION VII. 

OF THE JEWS. 

1. The Jews derived tneir origin from Abraham, the son of Terah, 
the tenth in lineal descent from bhem the son of Noah. The de- 
scendants of .Shem spread from Armenia, where the ark is supposed 
to have rested after the deluge, to Mesopotamia, and thence into 
Chaldea, where Abraham was born. As Abraham was appointed to 
be the progenitor of a great and distinguished nation, God separated 
him from the other descendants of Shem, by causing Terah to re- 
move from Chaldea into the country of llaram, near the borders of 
Mesopotamia, where he died. Abraham intended to settle in Haram; 
but in obedience to the will of God, he removed into the land of 
Canaan, which was appointed to be the inheritance of his posterity. 
From this period commences a long series of events, whicn are re- 
corded in the book ol Genesis, and are represented as immediately 
directed by the Lord. 

ii. After Abraham arrived in Canaan, his first care was to erect an 

Y '^1 



242 JEWISH HISTORY. 

altar for the worship of God, who appeared to him, and confirmed 
the promise which he had before made to him, to give tlie country 
to his ciiildren. When he had lived some time in Canaan, a tkm- 
ine compelled him to remove his family into Kgypt, (1,916 A. (I), 
where he resided till the famine ceased, and then returned. His 
wife Sarah, when she was advanced in years, brought him a son, 
who was called Isaac. When Isaac grew to man's estate he married 
Rebecca, who was afterward the mother of Jacob, in process of 
time Jacob had ten sons, who were the fathers of ten tribes. By the 
command of the Lord, Jacob took the name of Israel, and hence his 
posterity were called Israelites, or the children oi" Israel. 

3. Joseph, the ninth son, was the favourite of his father, which 
excited the jealousy and hatred of his eider brothers, who sold him 
to some merchants, and told Jacob that he had been devoured by 
wild beasts. Tlie merchants carried their slave into Egypt, and 
sold him to Potiphar, an otHcer of king Pharaoh's guard, 1,724 A. 
C. Joseph served Potiphar with such diligence and fidetlly, that he 
soon committed to him the care of his domestic affairs. 

The wife of Potiphar repeatedly attempted to seduce Joseph into 
the gratification of her amorous propensities ; but her immodest ad- 
vances being rejected with disdain, she was incensed, and malicious- 
ly accused him of an attempt to violate her chastity. On this false 
accusation he was immediately thrown into prison, but was soon 
liberated by the king. Such is, in all ages and in all countries, the 
vindictive disposition of a lascivious woman, whose allurements nave 
been neglected or resisted. The disappointed wanton prosecutes, 
with everlasting enmity, the innocent object of her carnal desires ! 

4. Joseph, being skilful in the interpretation of dreams, was intro- 
duced to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who was perplexed by two dreams 
which he could not explain. Joseph interpreted his dreams, which 
predicted abundant products of the earth lor seven years, and after- 
^vard a dreadful famine for seven years. He was released from pris- 
on, and appointed to conduct the affairs of Egypt under Pharaoh. 

5. In consequence of the famine with which Canaan was afflicted 
(as it had been foretold), Jacob and his family removed into Egypt, 
1,702 A. C. Joseph assigned them a residence in the land of Goshen, 
a fertile country tit lor pasturage, situated between the Nile and the 
Red Sea. In this happy country the descendants of Jacob increased 
and flourished, and became so numerous and prosperous that at 
length the envy and fears of the Egyptians began to be excited 
against them. To check their prosperity rigorous measures were 

Eursued by the rulers of Egypt. Their lives were imbittered by 
ard service, and all their male children were ordered to be drowned 
at their birth. 

6. Till the time of their residence in the land of Goshen, the He- 
brews had led a pastoral life, and had not been subject to any regular 
form of government. Children were obedient to their parents, and 
servants to their masters. Religion appeared in its most simple and 
amiable form. One God, the Creator and Governor of the world, 
was worshipped without images, and without an established priest- 
hood. Equal purity in faith and worship, in principle and practice, 
prevailed among the people. But in proportion as wealth and 
luxury increased, the religion of the Hebrews became more sensual. 
Like all eastern nations they were prone to the worship of the heav- 
enly bodies. Priestcraft employed images, and the delusive artifice^ 
of superstition to attract the devotion of the people. 



JEWISH history: 245; 

7. The history of the Hebrews, during the patriarchal ages, is 
related in the first book of Moses, with simplicity, minuteness, and 
apparent fidelity. There we read a description ol ancient customs 
and manners in the lives of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob. The story of Joseph and his brethren has been always 
admired for the simplicity of the language, and the affecting cir- 
cumstances which it exhibits. As the numerous facts and incidents 
in the early periods of the history of the Hebrews are familiar to 
every readfer, and are besides of little importance in the political 
annals of the nation, it seems superfluous to enter into a detail of 
them. We shall therefore next present a compendious view of the 
history of the Hebrews from the period of their departure out of 
Egypt, 1,487 A. C. 

8. After much oppression and suffering, God raised up a beliverer 
of his chosen peopn?, who rescued them from a state of cruel servi- 
tude, and brought them out of the land of bondage. This deliverer 
was Moses, the most distinguished personage of ancient times, bora 
1,567 A. C. In consequence of Pharaoh's inhuman decree, Moses 
was exposed by his mother on the banks of the Nile, and was found 
by the king's di\iighter, who compassionately adopted him, and thus 
saved his life. Belore their departure from Egypt, and in their long 
and tedious journey of forty years through the wilderness, many 
extraordinary and supernatural events are recorded in the Bible, and 
ascribed to the miraculous interposition of the Lord in behalf of his 
people. During their wanderings in the desert, they received from 
their illustrious guide, with many other signal proofs of divine favour^ 
a system of religion and laws, under the sanction of God. 

9. The Mosaic code, though the most ancient that haS been trans- 
mitted to posterity, contains the best maxims of legislative wisdom. 
It is an admirable summary of our various duties to God and man ; 
and it enforces the observance of those duties by the powerful mo- 
tives of gratitude, hope, and fear. It directs our adoration to one 
God, the author of all blessings; commands us to reverence his holy 
name ; and denounces dreadful vengeance against those who shall 
transfer to idols, or to the creature, uiat worship which is due only 
to the Creator. To prevent the neglect of those sacred obligations, 
it ordains a Sabbath every week, to be sot apart for rest, and for pious 
meditation on the works and the beneficence of God. Four of the 
statutes of the Mosaic code comprehend the principles of universal 
jurisprudence. 1. Thou shall not kill. 2. Thou sluilt not commit udul' 
iery. 3. Thou shall not steal. 4. lliou shall not bear false 7i:i(ness. 
They have formed the basis of criminal law in all civilized nations, 
and are essential to the good order of society. They conclude with 
ail admonition against avarice, the incentive to the commission of all 
offences. 

ID. While Moses lived in Egypt he must have remarked the bane- 
ful effects of the abuse of unlimited power entrusted to priests. He 
therefore wisely separated the sacerdotal jurisdiction from the civil. 
The ministers of religion were not allowed to interfere in st cular 
aflairs. Their duties were confined to the worship of God ; and 
th'^ir civil authority extended no farther than to take cognizance of 
such oflirMices or trespasses as were immediately connected with re- 
ligious woi-ship. The care and direction of all secular concerns were 
committed to the elders of the people, who administered justice un- 
der he control of a supreme magistrate, emphatically styled a 
judge. In the judge was vested all power civil and military. It ap* 



244l JEWISH HISTORY. 

pears however that the high priest at length invaded tlie miUtaty 
prerogative of the judge. 

11. Sensible of the ignorance and perverseness of the people 
under his care, Moses omitted no precepts nor instructions which 
he thought might tend to inform their minds, to regulate their con- 
duct, to correct their vicious propensities, and to promote their wel- 
fare and security. He prescribed rules for their diet, for the preser- 
vation of their health, and for the treatment and cure ot those 
diseases to which they were most liable. Having conducted the 
Israelites through many dangers and difficulties within sight of the 
promised land, and appointed Joshua his successor, Moses died in 
1,147 A. C. 



SECTION VIII. 

THE HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS DURING THE GOVERNMENT 
OF THE JUDGES. 

1. Tms period is extremely turbulent and sanguinary; a period 
of barbarism, ignorance, and anarchy. We know not certainly how 
the judges were chosen, nor what was the extent of their power. 
They appear to have been military chiefs, for they commanded 
armies, and some ot them acquired fame by successful expeditions 
against the enemies of their country. 

2. The chiefs or rulers of the Syrian kingdoms, principalities, or 
townships, had chosen no common leader, or generalissimo, nor 
digested any regular plan of defence against the Hebrews, who had 
been long hovering on the frontiers of Syria, and betrayed hostile 
intentions ; consequently many of these petty states on both sides 
of the river Jordan were subdued, and tne inhabitants massacred, 

-before any league was formed for their mutual delence. At length 
(they became apprehensive of utter destruction from their fierce 
and cruel invaders, and a general alliance was concerted among the 
remaining kings and chiefs of the country between the Jordan and 
the Mediterranean sea. Joshua twice attacked the combined army 
unexpectedly, and defeated it with great slaughter. Most of the in- 
habitants, except those who resided in impregnable cities on the sea 
coast, were put to the sword, or compelled to flee from the veur 
geance of their enemy. Their possessions were divided among 
the tribes of Israel ; and thus the victorious Hebrews conquered 
and occupied the southern parts of Syria, called Judea or Canaan, 
and still known by the name of Palestine. Joshua having on many 
occasions received miraculous assistance in the perilous conquest of 
Canaan, and in the execution of the arduous and important oliices of 
a government of incessant activity and energy, died in 1,439 A. C. 
leaving the Israelites in the quiet enjoyment of the country which 
the Lord had formerly promised to Abraham and his posterity. 

3. After the conquest of Canaan the Hebrews did not continue 
long to observe and obey the institutions of Moses. They fell into 
apostacy and confusion. They were alternately harassed by intestine 
commotions, and reduced to temporary bondage by the nations which 
they had bel'ore conquered. When relieved from the miseries of a 
foreign yoke, they commonly became subject- to the more grievous 
opi>ressions of domestic tyranny. But in the various changes of theii' 



JEWISH HISTORY. 245 

manners and fortunes, it is remarkable that some of their gross- 
est idolatries, and severest afflictions, happened when the civil power 
and the authority of the priesthood were exercised by the same 
person. 

4. After the death of Joshua the Israelites were governed by ciders 
about 20 years. Then followed an anarchy of about 18 years, during 
which- they were engaged in many successful and unsuccessful wars, 
and were often reduced to servitude. 

After the government of the Hebrews had continued with little 
interruption, about 295 years, under twelve successive judges, in the 
form prescribed by Moses, Eli, the high-priest united in his person 
those powers and functions which, before his accession to the 
supreme magistracy, had been kept distinct. Kli appeai-s to have 
been equally incapable of discharging the civil, the niilitury, and the 
religious duties of his high othces. The peoi)ie fell into idolaliy, 
and were subjugated by an ancient nation called the Philistines. In 
a great battle with the Philistines the army of the Hebrews w;\s 
routed with dreadful slaughter, and the two proliigate sons of Kli 
were killed. The news of this disaster put an end to the life of Eli, 
a$ter he had governed the Israelites forty years. 

5. The next and last judge of the Hebrews was Samuel the 
prophet, 1,112 A. C. He brought back the people to a sense of Iheir 
duty, and soon restored the departed glory of Israel by a great vic- 
tory over the Philistines. They now recovered their liberty, and 
the cities which had been taken from them in former wars, bamuel 
was indefatigable in the administration of justice. When age had 
rendered hitti incapable of executing his laborious duties, he luiited 
his two sons with him in the administration of the government. 
But their evil conduct offended the people, who comi)liUi>.ed to Sam- 
uel that his sons were not worthy to succeed him as judges. They 
demanded a kin^ to govern them. Samuel therefore assembled the 
people, and exjMained to them the extreme danger of changing their 
ancient form of government to that of a monarchy ; but in vain. 
They persisted in their resolution, and a man named Saul was ap- 
pointed the lirst king of tiie Hebrews, after the governmeiit by 
judges had subsisted, with some intermission, about Jati yeare, Irom 
Joshua to Saul. 



SECTION iX. 



RETROSPECT OF TIIE GOVERNMENT OF THE HEBREWS. 

1. Thf. advancemrnt of Saul to the regal dignity was the second 
change made in the constitution given by Moses. The common- 
wealth was originally a theocracy ; and the people acknowledged 
no other king but God. They paid respect to tne priests, as the 
superintendents of his worship ; and they obeyed the judges, as 
the interpreters of Ids laws, and the delegates of his power. The 
succession to the priesthood was fixed, being made hereditary in 
the taniily of Aaron. The ofhce of ruler, or judge, being apparent- 
ly left to the appointment of God, and determinable neither by the 
choice of the people, nor by linealdescent, gave access to disturbance, 
violence, and intrigue. Moses prevented any public comraotioa by 
naming and consecrating a successor to himself 



S46 JEWISH HISTORY. 

2. After the death of Joshua intestine divisions, or rather a Spirit 
of licentiousness aul rapine, tlirew tlie nation into a state of anarchy 
and confusion. As ciiis disunion and ci\ il disorder exposed them to 
the invasions of the adjacent states, military talents and success were 
regarded as infallible proofs of divine favour, and conferred upon any 
person so distinguished, the title and authority of judge. Gideon 
obtained many signal victories over the Philistines, the inveterate 
enemi<;s of the tHebrews, and enriched his soldiers with plunder. 
Out of gr.ititude for his services, the people oflered to make him 
and his posterity their rulers. Though he declined the name of 
judge, yt't he retain(>d the power, and appropriated to himself the 
most valuable pai't of the spoils of his enemies. His natural soa 
Ahimelech succeeded to the othce of judge by force and violence. 
Sacred history does not inform us how the next two judges obtiined 
their dignity. After them the supreme power was committed to one 
of Giiead's illegitimate issue, on account of his valour and military 
talents. Thus the oiiice of judge continued to fluctuate till it was 
annexed to the high priesthood in the person of Eli, as has been re- 
lated. The death of his two vicious sons interrupted the successioa 
in bis line. The odice was lastly conferred on Samuel, whose un- 
ju'it and rapacious sons were thought unworthy to succeed him. The 
jieople having received no permanent benefits trom the administra- 
tion either ol judges or of priests, resolved to appoint a king to govern 
them. This jjolitical innovation was the result of levity and impa- 
tience rather than of mature d(diberation. It neither gave stabiUly to 
the new government nor prevented the evils of the oid. 



SECTION X. 
REGAL GOVERNMENT OF THE HEBREWS. 

1. The reign of Saul began about 1,091 A. C. He was a shep- 
herd of lofty stature. The beginning of his reign was auspicious, 
and distinguished by a complete victory gained over the Ammonites, 
1^ tiich made 1dm popular among his subjects. Bnt he incurred the 
displeasure ol' Samuel, the prophet, and his whole reign of 40 years, 
was a continued scene of foreign or domestic troubles. Being de- 
feated in a battle with the Philistines in 1,051 A. C, he killed him- 
self 

2. Two candidates preferred their claim to the vacant throne. 
Is'a-bosheth, Saafs son, founded his pretensions on the right of im- 
medii'.te descent, and was supported by many of the tribes. David, 
a young shepherd, was famous tor killing, with a stone thrown from 
a sliag, a Ihiiistiue named Goliath, a man of gigantic size and 
strength. He had hkewise been privately anointed by Samuel 
before the death of Saul ; and his title, as of divine appointment, 
was tlicrefore acknowledged by the powerful tribe of Judah. A 
tivil war ensued, which lasted above seven years, and was terminat- 
ed by the assassination of Ish-boshcth. Ail the tribes now submit- 
ted to David, and the kingdom became hereditary in his fiimily, 
though the right of succession was still unsettled, and was transit r- 
able trom one branch to another at the will of the reigning sover- 
eign. This appears from Solomon's succession to the throne in 
preference to his elder brother. 

3. The rejgn of David is illustrious and interesting. He enlargied 



E 



JEWISH HISTORY. 247 

the bounds of Palestine by conquest, took Jerusalem, %vhich he made 
the capital of his dominion?, and enriched himself and his subjects 
witii the spoils of his enemies. He revived among the people an 
attachment to religion by the institution of solemn ceremonies ; and 
he introduced a taste for the arts, by inviting into the country able 
mechanics and artists tor the completion of the grand edifices which 
he erected. /• 

4. The latter part of David's reign was unfortunate. 'The king- 
dom was ravaged by pestilence, famine, and disastrous wars. His 
mind was harassed by domestic misfortunes. !5ome of his sons were 
disobedient and wicked. His Ihvourite son Absalom raised a rebel- 
lion with a design to dethrone his father; but was defeated and shuuT^ 
David caused his son Solomon to be crowned in 1,01 1 A. C, and died 
in 1,01U A. C, having reigned seven yeare and a half over Judah, 
and 33 years over all Israel. 

5. The reign of Solomon presents a splendid view of the kingdom 
of Israel in the height of its prosperity, felicity, and glory, enjoying 
nil the blessings of tranquillity in such a manner, and tor such a 
length of time, as it never experienced in any former or subsequent 

)eriod. It directed the councils of all the petty states between the 
Euphrates and the Mediterranean; and held the balance of power 
between the two great monarchies of Egypt and Assyria. Com- 
merce flourished in a degree which, at that early period of tlie world, 
must apiK^ar extraordinary. The fleets of Israel, under the direc- 
tion of Tyrian mariners, traded to the land of Ophir, which some 
suppose to be a district in Ethiopia, on the eastern coast of Africa. 
To this country they probably went by the Red Sea. By their lu- 
crative voyages they augmented the wealth of the nation, which 
David had already enriched by the spoils of war. But this agreea- 
ble and prosperous condition did not continue long. Solomon, elated 
by uniform prosperity, set no bounds to his magnificence and luxury; 
and laid heavy taxes on the people to enable him to support his j lo- 
fuse expenditure. These burdensome imposts created disaliectiuii 
in the minds of bis subjects, and toward the end of his reign gave 
rise to a powerful fiiction, at the head of which was a haughty and 
impetuous young man called Jeniboam. 

(j. The njost remarkable event in the reign of Solomon is the 
building of a magniticent temple at Jerusalem, which was completed 
in about seven years. The plan had been formed by David, and 
materials, workmen, and money, }ir()viiled for its execution. This 
was pi'obably the most superb and costly fabric that has been erected 
in ancient times. 

Tlie wisdom of Solomon is proverbial. The books of Proverbs 
and Ecclesiastes are ascribed to him, either as the author or col- 
lector; and abound with precepts and maxims that are applicable to 
every condition of iile. But notwithstanding the superior knowl- 
edge for which Solomon was so justly celebrated, he appears to have 
been immersed in sensual pleasures, lie had 700 wives of diflerent 
countries and religions, beside 300 concubines ! The allurements of 
those voluptuous women led him into effeminacy, and the excess- 
ive indulgence of the animal piissions, and into the neglect of his 
important duties to (Jod and his people ; and their influence and su- 
perstitions at length drew him into idolatry. This illustrious and 
renowned monarch reigne<l 10 years, and died in 971 A. C, without 
leaving any memorial of his power. 
7. With Solomon expired tJie grandeur and the tran<yuilUty of tb'e 



648 JEWISH HISTORY. 

Hebrews. Upon the accession of his son Kehoboam to the throne 
the faction of Jeroboam broke out into open rebellion, and terminat- 
ed in the revolt of the ten tribes from their allegiance to the house 
of David. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin continued loyal to 
their lawful sovereign. The revolted tribes elected Jeroboam for 
their king, and the monarchy was split into the two separate king- 
doms of Israel and Judah, 971 A. C. 

8. The policy of .l^foboam produced a religious as well as a po- 
litical separation. While the kings of Judah held the temple where 
the sacrifices were offered, and whither all the people were obliged 
to resort at stated times, they would always have an ascendancy 
over the kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam therefore thought it neces- 
sary to adopt some measures to prevent the iVeqnent visits of his 
sul)jects to Jerusalem, the meti'opolis of the kingdom of Judah. 
The priests, the Levites, and all who were concerned in the ministry 
of religion, were firmly attached to the house of David; and Jero- 
boam supposed that they would naturally exert tlie intluence which 
religion gave them over the minds of the people, to alienate iheir 
affection from his governments and to bring them back to their alle- 
giance to their lawful sovereign. To prevent the obvious conse- 
quences of the continuance of his subjects in religious communion 
with the house of David and kingdom of Judah, Jeroboam sacriliced 
the interest of religion to his political motives. He built a new 
temple, and instituted anew priesthood; and thus produced a new 
schism among the followers of the Mosaical laws, which was never 
extinguished. Soon after this separation, the religion of the ten 
tribes under Jeroboam, deviating more and more from the original 
institutions of 31oses, became a mixtui'e of J udaism and Pagan idol- 
atry. 

9. After this memorable epoch in the history of the Israelites we 
find little more in their annals than such transactions and events as 
constitute the ordinaiy subjects of political records. The kingdom 
of ludih adhered with inflexible attachment to princes of the house 
of David ; but usurpations in the kingdom of Israel were common. 
Thf' history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah during a period of 
almost lUO years, till the burning of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnez- 
zaj', may, with the exception of a few intervals, be called the an- 
nais of disunion, vice, wars, massacres, servitude, famine, and pesti- 
lence. In this long period of general wickedness and misery, one 
of the most remarkable events is a great battle Ibu^ht between 
Jeroboam antl Al'ijam the successor of Kehoboam. Ihc army of 
the former consisted of eight hundred thousand men, that of the 
latter of four hundred thousand. Jeroboam was defeated, and live 
hundred thousand of his men were killed in the battle.* 

10. At last the kingdom of the ten tribes was extinguished. The 
people were transported into Assyria, and dispersed into difiierent 
pans of the country, whence they never returned. The common 
people wlio were left in Canaan were intermixed with strangers; 
and from that mixture of different nations sprung the motley nice, 
wliicii were afterward known by the name of Samaritans. The 
sad catastrophe of the kingdom of Israel is described by the proph- 
ets in very pathetic terms. The infant- and pregnant women were 
murdercil with horrid barbarity. The men, who had not been slain 
in battle, nor had not escaped by Hight, were dragged into bondage. 

* The limits of this work do not admit a particular history of the gene- 
rally uninteresling reigns from this period to the Jiabyloaish captivity. 



JEWISH HISTORt. 24i) 

and their country was divided among the colonies of the conquerors. 
This event happened about 720 A. C., after the kingdom had sub- 
sisted about 254 years. 

11. The tottering kingdom of Judah still continued to enjoy a 
precarious existence ; Jnvaded at different times by the Babylonians, 
rendered tributary, and finally subjugated; its metropolis and temple 
razed to their foundations by that mighty conqueror Nebuchadnez- 
zar, 584 A. C. ; and all the principal persons, and the must skilful 
arlists of every kind, removed to Babylon. Thus ends the kingdom 
of Judea, after it had subsisted 468 years from the beginning of the 
reign of David, and 388 yeai's from the separation ol Judah and the 
ten tribes. 



SECTION XI. 

RESTORATION OF THE JEWS TO THEIR LIBERTY AND 
COUNTRY. 

1. The privation of liberty, and the miseries of bondage seem to 
have brought the people of Israel and J udah to a sense of their pa:5t 
transgressions. Unable to resist the power of man, they now placed 
their sole confidence in the goodness and mercy of God. Neither 
promises nor threats could induce them to abandon their duty, and 
worship the idols of the heathens. 

2. After they had been in captivity 70 years, Cyrus, king of Persia, 
having conquered Babylon, set them at liberty, and issued a decree. 
by which they were permitted to return to their own country, and 
to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, 643 A. C. He restored to 
them all the sacred utensils which Nebuchadnezzar had taken auay 
from the temple. He laid down a plan of the new temple, and 
ordered that the expense of erecting it should be paid out of the 
royal treasury. All who desired it were allowed to remain in their 
present places of residence, and to contribute as much as they pleas- 
ed to the holy edifice. 

It may be proper to observe in this place, that the Israelites who 
returned from the captivity of Babylon were then and ever after- 
ward called Jews, because the tribe of Judah u-as the most power- 
ful of all the tribes of Israel, and indeed almost the only one which 
was considerable after their restoration to their liberty and country. 

3. Many of the Israelites chose to remain at Babylon. Those 
who returned to Palestine began the work of the temple with alac- 
rity and vigour. Its progress suffered a temporary obstruction 
through the intrigues of their enemies, and the caprice of Cyrus's 
immediate successors. But in the beginning of the reign of Darius, 
the decree of Cyrus in favour of the Jews was ratified, and many 
new clauses were added for their effectual assistance and security. 
A particular charge was given to the governors of Syria and Sama- 
ria, not only to prevent any further obstruction of the work, but also 
to llirnish supplies out of the tribute of those provinces for carrying 
it on with greater expedition ; and it was declared that all persons 
who should act contrary to these instructions would be punished with 
death. 

4. Darius continued to manifest his favour for the Jews, during 
th ' remainder of his long reign. Their privileges were confirmed 
to them by his son Xerxes. Their interest was still greater with 

32 



250 JEWISH HISTORY. 

Artaxerxes, the Ahasuerus of scripture, through the influence of his 
queen Esther, a Jewess, and also through the services ol her uncle 
Mordecai, who had discovered and frustrated a conspiracy against the 
king's life. From Artaxerxes, Ezra obtained very liberal donations, 
to be applied to the service of the temple ; and full powers to gov- 
ern the Jews as the divine will should (iirect. The like commission 
was also granted to Nehemiah, who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, 
and reformed many abuses both civil and religious. 

After these two we find no more governors of Judea, which prob- 
ably became subject to the governor of Syria, from whom the high- 
priests might immediately derive their authority. In this prosperous 
state were the Jews about 420 years betbre the christian era. 

5. Fiom this time we may ascribe most of the mislbrtunes which 
befel the Jewish nation to men who aspired at the sacerdotal dignity 
through ambition and avarice more than zeal for religion. For 
whole centuries the office of high-priest was the chief object of men's 
ambition. The candidates purchased the otfice from the Syrian gov- 
ernors, and retained it by means of money. Hence they oppressed 
the people with taxes that they might fulfil their pecuniary engage- 
ments. There was no energy among this degraded people, no dig- 
nity among the great, no foresight, no thought of pursuing proper . 
measures against foreign invasion. 

6. About 328 A. C. Alexander the great besieged Tyre, and was 
incensed against the Jews, because they had refused to supjily his 
army with provisions during the siege. After the capture ot Tyre 
he marched to Jerusalem with the intention of punishing the Jews 
for their disobedience of his orders. Jaddua the high-priest was 
ordered in a dream to meet the threatening conqueror in his pontifi- 
cal robes, at the head of all the priests in their proper habits, and 
attended by the rest of the people dressed in white garments. 
Alexander was struck with this religious pomp, and approaching 
the liigh-priest with awful respect, embraced him with a religious 
kind of veneration. He told his attendants, who expressed surprise at 
his submissive behaviour, that he did not pay this profound respect to 
the high-priest, but to the God whose minister he was. Alexander 
then went to Jerusalem, and offered sacrifice in the temple to the 
God of the Jews. Upon his departure he granted to the Jews the 
freedom of their counti'y, laws, and rehgion, and exempted them 
from paying tribute every seventh year. During his whole reign 
they enjoyed great tranquillity ; but with him expired the prosperous 
state of their country. Judea was succe.ssively invaded and subdued 
by the Syrians and Egyptians, and the people were reduced to bon- 
dage. 

7. The Jew& kept their sabbath so rigidly that they would not 
fight on that day, nor even defend themselves although attacked by 
an enemy. Ptolemy king of Egypt, having invaded Judea, took ad- 
vantage of this rehgious impediment. He entered Jerusalem on the 
sabbath-day without resistance, and carried away to Egypt a hundred 
thousand captives, 316 A. C. 

After this time the Jews became the victims of foreign and domes- 
tic wars, and of horrid massacres. 

8. About 198 A. C. Antiochus the great, king of Syria, took 
Jerusalem, plundered the temple, sold 40,000 Jews to the neigh- 
bouring nations, and established paganism throughout Judea. The 
sacrifices ceased, and there scarcely existed any external signs of 
religiOQ. ^ 



JEWISH HISTORY. 251 

This persecution roused the resentment and provoked the resist- 
ance of a priest named Mattathias, and his iive sons surnamed Mac- 
cabeus. They all retired into the wilderness, and were soon joined 
by a great number of Jews who wished to avoid idolatry and religious 
persecution. An army was raised, of which the command was given 
to the eldest son of Mattathias, named J udas Maccabeus. 

The deliverance of the Jews from the tyranny and oppression of 
the Greeks, by the uncommon talents, bravery, and patriotism of 
Judas Maccabeus, is an achievement as glorious perhaps as any per- 
formed by the most illustrious heroes of Greece and Rome. Having 
gained many signal victories, and delivered his country from bondage 
and idolatry, he was at last slain in battle, 157 A. C. 

9. The brothers of Judas, puivuing their advantages with perse- 
verance and excrtioi),,estoblished the independence of their country, 
and changed its republican government to a vigorous and tiourishing 
monarchy. 

10. John Hyrcanus, son of Simon Maccabeus, uniting in his person 
the othces of high-priest and generalissimo ol ti)e army, and possess- 
ing all the talents requisite for the pontilical, the military, and the 
regal oHices, vanquished the enemies of his country, and tirmly estab- 
lished his government. His sons assumed the title as well as the 
power of kings ; and the high-priesthood remained in his family 
though not in the person of the monarch. The descendants of Hyr- 
canus are distinguished, in the history of the Jewish nation, by tJie 
appellation of the Asmonean dynasty^ which continued about 126 
years. 

11. The unlucky dissensions of this family terminated ultimately 
in the conquest of Judea and the capture of Jerusalem by Pompey 
the great, and the subjection of the Jewish nation to the Romans, 
59 A. C. 

12. After this event the Jewish monarchy was re-established by 
the favour and under the protection of the Romans, who placed 
Herod the great, the son of Antipater, on tlie throne of David. 
This prince demolished the old temple of Jerusalem, and rebuilt 
it in a very magniticent manner. He reigned with great splendour, 
but with singular despotism and tyranny. He possessed great abili- 
ties, but was cruel and unjust buth in his public and private transac- 
tions. His public life exhibits a continued scene of battles^ massa- 
cres, and violence. He died in the th-st year of the birth ot Christ, 
or the fourth of the vulgar era. 

The reign of Herod was distinguished by a memorable event, 
which has proved more important in its consequences than anv that 
has occurred since the creation of the world, the birth of Jesus Christy 
the author of the christian religion. 

13. Soon after the death of Herod, .ludea was in reality reduced 
to a Roman province, and the governors were appointed by the 
emperors of Rome. In this condition it remained till the final ex- 
tinction of the Jewish nation in the year of Christ 75, or of the vul- 
gar era 72. 

The rapine and cruelty of Florus, governor of Judea, caused a 
rebellion of the Jews, in which 150,000 persons are said to have 
perished, 69 of Christ, or A. D. 66. 

The violent and sanguinary factions among the Jews destroyed in- 
credible numbers of people of all ranks. 

14. At length the Jewish nation was extinguished by the Romans, 
and its metropolis reduced to ashes by Titus the Roman genenyl. 



252 JEWISH HISTORY. 

The last siege of Jerusalem was attended with scenes of carnage, 
famine, disease, and desperation, far more liorrible than any to be 
found in the annals of human wickedness and misery. During the 
calamitous progress of the siege, Titus displayed many instances of 
humanity toward the sufferings of the besieged, and of his solicitude 
for the preservation of the city and temple ; but in vain. Their 
doom was predestuiated by the irrevocable degree of the Almighty. 
The magnihcent temple of the Jews perished in the general wreck 
of the nation, and not one stone was left upon another, 76 of Christ, 
or A. D. 72. 

According to a moderate calculation the number of persons who 
perisiied by violent deaths during the last war in Judea amounted to 
more than one miUion four hundred thousand, besides many wiio died 
of grief and famine. 

Since that time the descendants of those who survived the dissolu- 
tion of the Jevvish nation have been wandering about the world, 
the obj-'cts of hatred and contempt rather than of kindness and com- 
miseration. In all countries where they have been permitted to 
reside, they have been excluded from the participation of certain 
political privileges which the people of those countries enjoy. 

SECTION XII. 

THE STATE OF LEARNING AND COMMERCE AMONG THE 

JEWS. 

1. Of all the interesting prospects which history opens to our 
view, the progressive advancement of the human mind, in the im- 
provement of its faculties, is the most agreeable, and the most 
worthy of our attention and regard. The brilliant and destructive 
exploits of conquerors may dazzle for a while; but the silent labours 
of the student and the artist, of the architect and the husbandman, 
which embellish the earth and convert it into a paradise, confer per- 
manent benefits on mankind, and promote their prosperity and hap- 
piness. The arts and sciences distinguish the civilized man from the 
savage ; and the investigation of their origin and progress would 
constitute the noblest attribute of history. How unfortunate it is, 
that the ancient historians have almost neglected so interesting and 
pleasing a subject. All the knowledge which we can obtain concern- 
ing the origin and progress of learning must be gleaned from uncon- 
nected fragments and scattered notices, laboriously collected from 
a multifarious and confused mass of trivial particulars. 

2. The period of the scriptural history includes the whole space 
of time from the creation of the world to the subversion of the 
Babylonian monarchy, or about 3,457 years. During this long suc- 
cession of ages a great variety of poHtical, civil, and religious in- 
stitutions had been invented ; the human mind had been much im- 
proved in some countries; agriculture had been skilfully practised; 
the surface of the earth had been adorned with large cities and 
stately edifices. Of these interesting subjects, few particulars have 
been faithluUy transmitted to posterity, except such as relate to Jevv- 
ish laws and institutions, some scattered hints respecting ancient 
commerce, and some excellent specimens of writing in the Prophets 
and Psalms. In those venerable monuments of antiquity, the sacred 
writings, we trace the Israelites from the patriarchal ages, through 
the turbulent times of barbaric ignorance, to a considerable degree 



JEWISH HISTORY. 253 

of civilization and refinement. Of tlieir civil and religious institu- 
tions we have a clear and explicit account ; of their knowledge of 
the arts and sciences we possess little information. The Jews do not 
seem to have been a scientific or philosophical nation in any period 
of their history. They appear to have been sufficiently skilful in 
the arts of necessity and conveniency ; but not to have made much 
proficiency in those of luxury and ornament. Some admirable speci- 
mens of literature are presented in the scriptures, especially in the 
writings of the Prophets, and in the Psalms. In the historical books 
we observe plainness ol" style and conciseness ot narrative, and un- 
common perspicuity in the didactical pieces. The writings of the 
prophets are chiefly poetical, very different, and all originals. Most 
of them display sublime sentiments, expressed with energy of diction, 
and decorated with oriental imagery. 

3. In the patriarchal ages commerce was so far known and exer- 
cised that gold and silver were used as the medium by which it wa3 
regulated. In the tumultuous times which succeeded the patriarchal 
we obtain very little infoi-mation concerning the state of commerce. 
,We have no I'cason to think tliat commerce was ever in a flourishing 
state among the Jews. In times of remote antiquity the mechanic 
arts and various kinds of manufactures had made considerable prog- 
ress in some countries. This is manifest from the curious and rich 
materials of the tabernacle and of the high-priest's garments. The 
Israelites, no doubt, brought from Egypt much of their knowledge 
of arts, sciences, and literature ; for the Egyptians had, from time 
immemorial, been gradually advancing in learning and civihzation; 
and, during the greater part of the period now under contemplation, 
were famous for the excellence of their civil policy, the extent and 
population of their cities, the magnificence of tneir public edi- 
fices, and the flourishing state of agriculture. In all these respects 
the Egyptians were distinguished above all the contemporary nations 
of antiquity. 

CONCLUSION. 

1. In taking a retrospective view of the various nations Avhich 
have successively appeared and flourished upon the grand theatre 
of this world, and have at length vanished and sunk into oblivion, 
their rise, progress, and decline, arrest our attention, and excite our 
curiosity and compassion. The ignorance, avarice, wickedness, and 
ambition of mankind may be assigned as the general causes of the 
dissolution of nations. Many of those kingdoms and states once so 
great and flourishing have not only disappeared, but even their names 
and all remembrance of them must have perished, if they had not 
been preserved and perpetuated in the historical records of scrip- 
ture. In them, however, we behold the transitory and fading splen- 
dour of all human glory, and a diminutive picture of every thing 
which the world calls great ; as eminence of genius and learning, 
military honour and fame, extent of power and dominion, political 
wisdom, the faculty of eloquence. Finally, we draw this sad conclu- 
sion, that history is little more than a dismal record of the crimes 
and the calamities of the human race !* 

* For a very copious and useful chrouological table of the history of 
the Bible see Calmet's Dictiouary of the Bible, vol. II. This table is an 
epitome of the history of the Jews, and will be particularly useful to 
theological students. 

Y 



ELEMENTS 



or 



GENERAL HISTORY, 



ANCIENT AND MODERN; 



BEING A CONTINUATION, 



TERMII7ATING XT THX 



DEMISE OF HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE IH., 1,820. 



BY THE REV. EDWARD NARES, D. D. 
Regius Professor of Modem History in the University of Oxford 



COKCORD, A". H, 

PRINTED BY ISAAC HILL. 

1824. 



ff^. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



-^•••44»- 



As the learned author of the Elements of General History, pro- 
fesors Tytler, (by courtesy lord Woodhouselee,) lived until the year 
1,813, it is much to be regretted that he did not bring his history 
down to a later period. 

In the present volume nothing further has been attempted than to 
continue the history from the point at which the professor left it, in 
the same concise style, and with as much attention to the original 
method and design, as could be rendered consistent with the extraor- 
dinary nature of the facts and incidents to be recorded. 

To this end it has been found necessary to carry on the history of 
Great Britain and Ireland from the period of the death of queen 
Anne; 

That of the Southern Continental States of Europe, from the end 
of the reign of Louis XIV ; 

And that of the Northern States from the death of Charles XIL 
ff Sweden, and Peter the First of Russia. 



PART THIRD. 
MODERN HISTORY. 

SECTION I. 

FRANCE FROxM THE DEATH OF LEWIS XIV. 1,715, TO THE 
PEACE OF VIENNA, 1,738. 

1 . The last years of the very long and splendid reign of Lewis 
XIV. were clouiled by many severe domestic misibrtunes, and a 
great change in the sentiments and manners of the sovereign and his 
court. A mystical religion became the vogue, accompanied with a 
gravity of demeanour approaching to prudery. The amiable Fene- 
lon fell into these erroi"s, which were countenanced by madame de 
Maintenon, who had been privately married to the king, and seems 
to have possessed his confidence in a high degree. 

2. On the king's demise (sec Sect. LXIV.) the crown descended 
to his grandson, Levyis XV., an infant, only live years old. In u 
very short space of time, losses had occurred in the royal family, so 
strange and unexpected, as to aftbrd ground for suspicion, greatly 
to the prejudice of tlie duke of Orleans, nephew of Lewis XIV. 
Three heirs to the crown, the Dauphin, his son the duke of Bur 
gUndy, and his gmndson the duke ol Bretagne, had all died within 
the short space of eleven months, during the years 1,711, 1,712, 
-leaving, to intercept the claims and pretensions of the duke of Or- 
leans, only the duke of Berry and one infant, apparently of a feeble 
and delicate constitution, and whose own life had also been in dan- 
ger. The kin^ of Spain had been previously compelled, according 
to the spirit ot the celebrated treaty of the Pyrenees, formally to 
renounce his claims to the succession, notwithstanding his near rela- 
tionship to the crown of France. Lastly, the duke of Berry died, 
May 1 ,7 1 4, at the early age of 1 8. 

3. Fortunately for the reputation of the duke of Orleans, (who, 
though of loose morals, seems to have possessed too generous a 
heart for such base deeds), the infant dauphin not only lived to be- 
come king, but to survive the duke himself, many years. Nor were 
the suspicions which had been raised by the sudden deaths of so 
many heirs to the crown, strong enough to prevent the nation repos- 
ing the highest confidence in the duke, by suffering the kingly power 
to pass into his hands, as sole regent, diiring the minority ; though 
contrary to the express appointment of the late king, who is said 
to have wisely observed, when for form's sake he executed his will, 
that it would have but little weight with the people, or the parlia- 
ment, as soon as his eyes were closed. The nation willingly acceded 

Y2 33 



m 



258 MODERN HISTORY. 

to the disposition of the parliament, in setting aside the claims of the 
illegitimate princes, whom the will of Lewis XlV. favoured ; and 
the duke of Orleans was careful to fix that body in his interest, by 
promising to restore to it its full power of remonstrance, which had 
been greatly restrained during the preceding reign. 

4. Lewis XlV. had left his kingdom so incumbered with debt, and 
so surrounded by mortified, jealous, and exasperated neighbours, 
eager to recover what had been taken from them during the trium- 
phant wars of that monarch, that it became an object of the highest 
importance to the regent, for the nation's sake, as well as his own, to 
maintain peace as far as he could with foreign states. To this end, 
though contrary to any former course of things, he prudently endea- 
voured to form alliances with the courts of St. Jumes''s and Fienna. 
In the former case the advantages were similar and mutual. By the 
treaty of Utrecht, England stood engaged to secure the French 
crown to the regent, in case Lewis XV. should die without issue ; 
and to keep her steady to this engagement, it was easy for the duke 
to comply with the wishes of the whig governnicnt of England, in 
withholding all encouragement from the pretender. 

5. However pacilic the views of the regent might be, Spain 
seemed to present an obstacle to the repose and tranquillity of Eu- 
rope. There a minister of a very different disposition had obtained 
the chief management of affairs, who appeared bent upon disturbing 
both the French and English governments, in order to recover what 
had been taken from Spain by the treaty of Utrecht, especially in 
Italy ; to deprive the duke ot Orleans ot the regencv, in favour of 
the king his master, and to seat the pretender on the throne of Great 
Britain, with the aid of Russia and Sweden. Such were the plans of 
the celebrated Mbcroni ; originally the son of a gardener ; afterwards 
in the lowest stations in the church of Flacentia, but who had raised 
himself, by an extraordinary display of genius and talent, to the high- 
est degree of credit and inlluence at the court of Philip V., with the 
exalted rank of cardinal. 

6. I'hese movements indeed on the part of Spain, were not in 
themselves altogether unfavourable to the views of the regent ; in 
better securing to him the good will of England and Austria, always 
prepared to be jealous of too close an intimacy between the courts 
of Paris and Madrid. Some historians have even gone so far as to 
suppose it to have been a settled contrivance to impose on the Ibrmer 
two court-, but certainly without suthcient grounds. 

7. It seems to have been a great oversight in the negotiations at 
Utrecht, not to have endeavoured more effectually to reconcile the 
courts of Austria and Spain. The foniier, after the treaty, remained 
jealous of the occupation of the Spanish throne by Philip; while 
the latter could not tail to be aggrieved and offended at being made 
to contribute to the indemnitication of Charles VI., by a very consid- 
erable dismemberment of its dominions, without any suitable or 
adequate remtmeration. 

8. To counteract the projects of Alberoni, the regent entered into 
an alliance with England and the United States ; entirely sacrificing 
to tlie former the interests of the pretender, who was to be sent out 
of France. But the Spanish minister was not to be deterred by this 
triple alliance and contederacy against him. Having watched his op- 
portunity of a war between the emperor of Germany and the Porte, 
he suddenly commenced hostilities ; and, with no small degree of 
teeachery, in the course of the years 1,717 and 1,718, succeeded in 



MODERN HISTORY. f5a 

wresting from Austria the island of Sardinia, and from the duke of 
Savoy that of Sicily, thus violating, in the most direct and glaring 
manner, the solemn treaty of Rastadt, so lately concluded. In con- 
sequence of these proceedings, and in order to remedy, as it would 
seem, the detects and omissions of the original convention, Austria 
was admitted a party to the alliance between France, England, and 
Holland, with a view to bring about a reconciliation between the 
emperor and Spain, upon the basis of the following arrangement : 
that the former should renounce all claims to the Spanish throne in 
favour of Philip, while the latter should surrender to the emperor the 
Netherlands, the duchy of Milan, and the kingdom of Naples, as- 
signed to him by the treaty of Utrecht and the quadruple alliance. 
That the duke of Savoy should yield Sicily to Austria, receiving in 
exchange the island of Sardinia Irom Spain ; and that the eldest son 
of Philip by his second marriage, don Carlos, sliould be secured iu 
the reversion of the duchies ol Parma and Placentia, and the grand 
duchy of Florence, to be holden as male tiels under the emperor, 
and on no occasion whatever to be united to the crown of Spain. 

9. There never was a period perhaps in which it would have 
been more dithcult to unravel the policy of these several courts. It 
was certainly a strange thing for the emperor to agree, in anj* man- 
ner, to admit the Spaniards into Italy, of wliich he had so much reason 
to be distrustful ; much more to assist in doing so. While those very 
terms, which were undoubtedly introduced to gratify the Spanish 
minister, in this particular respect, so far from securing the ready 
consent of the court of Madrid, only induced it to make tresh eflbrls. 
The predominance of France and England, however, soon became 
so conspicuous, as to compel Philip to subscribe to the articles of the 
alliance, and even to dismiss his favourite minister, the cause of all 
the grievances of which the allied powei"s had to complain. In 
1,720 Austria took possession of Sicily, and Victor Amadeus II. trans- 
ferred the seat of his government to the island of Sardinia. 

10. In the month of December, 1,7'23, in the 50th year of his age, 
the regent duke of Orleans died very suddenly in a til of apoplexy. 
He was a prince of shining talents, and of great taste and sjiirit; biit 
dissolute in his habits of life to a most disgraceful pitch of extrava- 
gance. He did not indeed sufl'er his pleasures and licenlions connex- 
ions to intertere greatly with the (lisch;irge of his public duties, but 
they tarnished his iiune, and in all likelihood sliortened his lite, lie 
had the misfortune in his youth to be put into the hiuuls of a most 
unprincipled tutor, the Abbe Dubois, who continued with him to 
the last yeai" of his life, dying only four months before him, a cardi- 
nal of Rome, and prime minister of France ! The elevation ol' this 
prothgate man to such high stations in the church and slate, did 
more mischief to the cause of religion and morality, than the pci^on- 
al vices of the regent, who, amidst a thousand foibles, had some great 
and brilliant qualities. 

Neither Austria nor Spain were satisfied with what had been done 
for them, and strong remonstrances were prepared on the part of the 
dukes of Parma and Placentia, the grand duke of Tuscany, and the 
pope, against the grants in reversion to the Infant of Spain. At- 
tempts were made to reconcile the two courts more efl'ectually by a 
congress, summoned to meet at Cambray, in the year 1,724, under 
the joint mediation of France and England, but ineffectually : in 
1,729 another, but more private attempt, had better success; it was 
undertaken by a very singular luid eccentric character, the baron, or 



260- MODERN HISTORY. 

duke, de Ripperda, Dutch minister at the court of Madrid, who suc- 
ceeded so far, through his own intrigues, and the venality of the im- 
perial court, as to give umbrage to the governments of France and 
England ; the latter soon saw the necessity of guarding, by a coun- 
ter-treaty, framed at Hanover, against the effects of Ripperda's in- 
terposition. 

11. Secret articles were said to be signed and executed, to recov- 
er for Spain the fortress of Gibraltar and the island of Minorca, to 
seat the pretender on the throne of Great Britain, to forward the 
emperor's views with regard to the Ostend East India Company, 
and to cement the alliance by marriages which would have laid a 
foundation for the reunion of the Austrian and Spanish dominions 
under one sovereign. Ripperda himself is said to have communicat- 
ed these secret articles to the English government : he was made to 
pay dear for his treachery. 

As the empress of Russia had acceded to the treaty of Vienna^ 
concluded by Kipperda, and France and England had taken steps to 
secure Holland and Prussia on their side, Europe seemed to be 
threatened with another general war, but the timely death of the 
empress, in 1 ,727, and the defection of Prussia, gave a turn to aflCairs, 
and left room for the renewal of the congress of Cambray, transferred 
in the year 1,728, to Soissons, where fresh endeavours were made 
to establish a solid and permanent peace. As the emperor, however, 
insisted on the accession of all the contracting powers, to the Pi'ag- 
matic Sanction, which was to secure to his heirs general the undi- 
vided succession to all his territories and dominions, the other courts 
withdrew; and in November, 1,729, concluded at Seville in Spain a 
separate treaty, in which it was agreed, between France, England^ 
and Spain, to support the pretensions of the Infant to the duchies ot 
Parma, Placentia, and Tuscany. To this treaty Holland was soon 
after brought to accede, on the condition that her rights should be 
protected against the new East India Company, established by the 
emperor at Ostend, which was considered as contrary to the treaty 
of Westphalia, and manifestly injurious both to England and the 
United States. The treaty ofSeville was settled so totally without 
the concurrence of the emperor, that his name was not even men- 
tioned in it ; which, as might be reasonably expected, gave great 
offence. In the year 1,731, however, England, and in 1,732 Holland, 
acceded to the wishes of the emperor, in regard to the Pragmatic 
Sanction, on condition that the archduchess, who should succeed to 
tlie empire, should not marry any Bourbon, or other prince or po- 
tentate, capable of disturbing the peace of Europe. The Ostend 
Company was given up; the Infant don Carlos took possession of the 
duchies of Parma and Placentia on the death of the last of the Far- 
nese family, and the grand duke of Tuscany acknowledged him as 
his heir. A treaty between England, Holland, and the empire, call- 
ed the second treaty of Vienna, was signed and executed at the latter 
place, which may be said to have terminated all the differences aris- 
ing out of the Spanish succession, by which the greater part of Eu- 
rope had been kept in a state of agitation for the space of thirty 
years. 

While these things were in agitation, Victor Amadeus, embarrass- 
ed, as it is said, with the counter engagements he had entered into 
with Austria and Spain, thought fit to resign his crown to his son, 
Charles Emmanuel, but soon repenting of what he had done, pre- 
pared to reascend his abdicated throne ; this rash and injudicious step 



MODERN HISTORY. 261 

was the cause of his imprisonment, and probably of his death, which 
happened in November, 1,732. 

12. In 1,733, France became involved again in a war, both the 
origin and end of which had something remarkable in them. The 
throne of the elective kingdom of Poland becoming vacant by the 
demise of Augustus of Saxony, two competitors appeared on the 
stage ; the son of the deceased king, and Stanislaus Lescinsky, who 
had with great credit previously occupied it through the interposi- 
tion of Charles XII. of Sweden, (see Sect. LXVI.) and whose daugh- 
ter was married to Lewis XV. The emperor of Germany, the 
Czarina, and the king of Prussia, espoused the cause of the former, 
France supported the latter, and commenced hostilities against the 
emperor, by detaching the king of Sardinia from his interests, and 
occupying Lorrain, whose duke was engaged to marry the emperor's 
daughter. But the principal seat of war was in Italy, where the 
French, Spanish, ana Sardinian combined troops obtained many ad- 
vantages, and ultimately succeeded in seating don Carlos, duke of 
Parma, &.c., on the throne of the Two Sicilies, to which he had been 
particularly invited by the Neapolitans. The Austrian court had 
been very supine, in not guarding better against the manifest de- 
eigns of the queen of Spain, mother of don Carlos. He was crown- 
ed king by the title of Charles the third, July 3, 1,735. Naples 
was subdued in 1 ,734, and Sicily in the year following. During this 
contest, the celebrated prince Eugene, though then past seventy 
years of age, had the command of the imperial army on the Rhine ; 
but he had great cause to be offended with the situation in which he 
was placed ; the French being stronger ; England not to be roused 
to assist him, through the pacific views of the minister VValpole ; and 
having, both at court and in the army, many rivals and seciet ene- 
mies. His only consolation was, the extreme and enthusiastic at- 
tachment of the soldiers, the very remembrance of which, as he 
feeUn^ly acknowledges in his own memoii"s, often afterwards drew 
tears trom his eyes. 

13. Matters were brought to an accommodation, through the medi- 
ation of the maritime powers, (who, undoubtedly, appear in this 
case to have been guilty of misleading the emperor,) by a conven- 
tion signed at Vienna, in November, 1,738. By this treaty some 
very extraordinary appointments took place. Stanislaus, the depos- 
ed king of Poland, liather-in-law to the king of France, obtained, 
keeping his kingly title, the duchies of Lorrain and Bar, to revert to 
France after his death, which did not take place till the year 1,766. 
In exchange for what was thus bestowed upon Stanislaus, the duke 
of Lorrain obtained the grand duchy of Tuscany, the reversion of 
which had been guaranteed to the Infant don Carlos, but who was, 
by the same treaty, acknowledged king of the Two Sicilias, surren- 
dering in his turn to the emperor, his two duchies of Parma and Pla- 
centia ; Vigevano and Novaro wei'e given to the king of Sardinia ; 
and to the emperor, the Milanese, the Mantuan, and Parma. 

On the conclusion of the peace, France acceded to the Pragmatic 
Sanction. The kings of Spain and Sardinia showed some reluctance 
to agree to the terms of the treaty, but were induced to sign it in ihe 
course of the year 1,729. It is certainly very remarkable, that, in 
consequence of a dispute about the crown of Poland, not only the 
emperor should have lost almost all his possessions in Italy, but 
France should have been able to recover a province of which she 
bad been deprived for the space of nearly a thousand years, and »• 



262 MODERN HISTORY. 

situated as to render it one of the most splendid and gratifying acqui- 
sitions she could possibly have contemplated. 



SECTION 11. 

ENGLAND FROM THE ACCESSION OF THE HOUSE OF HAN- 
OVER, 1,714, TO THE END OF THE REIGN OF GEORGE THE 
FIRST, 1,727. 

1 . QrEEN Anne was no sooner dead, [Part II. Sect. LXIV. § 20.] 
than steps were taken for the immediate acknowledgment of her suc- 
cessor, George Lewis, elector of Brunswick Luneburg, pursuant to 
the several ads of parliament, for securing the protestant succession, 
in exclusion of the pretender, the house of Savoy, and, in fact, every 
catholic branch of the royal family of England ; many of whom 
were more directly in the line of inheritance than the protestant 
descendants of James the first, in whom the crown was now vested ; 
not, however, without due regard to that hereditary line which may 
be said to have occupied the throne from the time of Egbert. The 
iate union with Scotland, 1,706, [see as above] was calculated to sup- 
press any general desire, on the part of the people there, to place 
themselves again under a distinct sovereign. 

2. The accession of George I., to judge from the addresses of the 
two houses of parliament, and the general tranquillity manifested in 
all parts of the three kingdoms, at the time of his proclamation, 
would seem to have been acceptable to the nation at large. Nor 
was the French king long before he openly acknowledged his right 
and title to the crown of Great Britain, though the sincerity of his 
declarations in lavour of a protestant succession, and the exclusion 
of the house of Stuart, was not too confidently relied upon. The 
states of Holland were, probably, entirely cordial, both in their ex- 
pressions of congratulation, and promises of support, according to 
existing engagements to that effect, as guarantees of the Hanoverian 
succession. From the king of Prussia, and various other princes and 
states of Germany, his majesty also received the strongest assuran- 
ces of support ; yet so little are these courtesies to be trusted, that 
it is more than probable, from circumstances since come to light, 
that at this very moment, with regard to the continental states ia 
general, he had more enemies than friends. 

3. His entrance into his new dominions, however, September, 
1,714, was hailed in a manner that could not fail to be extremely 
gratifying to the king, though it soon became manifest, and could not 
well have been otherwise, that there were many secret heart-burn- 
ings and disappointed hopes, to prevent that perfect unanimity which 
was most desirable on an occasion so important. The tories, some 
of whom had evidently been tampering with the pretender, during 
the last years of the queen's reign, were greatly discomfited, ana 
in a very marked manner discountenanced by the king himself. The 
whigs enjoyed a triumph. The pretender's friends in general stood 
confounded, not only by the low estate of his cause, but by the per- 
plexity of their own feelings, with regard to his more direct heredi 

^ tary claims to the crown. In this dilemma, it is not to be wondered 
^ that several should refiise to take the oaths of allegiance and abju- 
ration. Scotland also, in part at least, bewailed its lost independency 



MODERN HISTORY. 263 

by the act of union, which some were forward to have dissolved 
again ; and the papists, being very numerous in Ireland, rendered 
the peace of that kingdom constantly precarious. 

4. The person, manners, and deportment of the new sovereign, 
were not such as immediately to concihate his British subjects ; but 
he was by no means destitute of kingly virtues and accomplishments 
of a more solid and important description. Having delivered the 
ministerial government of the realm into the hands of the whigs, it was 
not long belore serious proceedings were entered into, by the new 
administration, against the authors and advisers of the late peace and 
treaty of Utrecht ; and articles of impeachment for high treason ex- 
hibited against the earl of Oxford, viscount Bolingbroke, the duke of 
Ormond, earl of Strafford, and others. The duke of Ormond, and 
lord Bolingbroke, absconded ; the earl of Oxford, with greater mag- 
nanimity, stood upon his defence, and though imprisoned for a con- 
•siderable time, was finally acquitted. Under a pretence of the 
church being in danger, which seems to have been adopted as a sort 
of watch-word by the tory party and Jacobites, (for so the adherents 
of the pretender were called,) riois and tumults took place in many 
parts of the kingdom ; in consequence of which, the king was em- 
powered by parliament (1,715,) to raise fresh forces, and the habeas 
corpus act was suspended, for the more speedy apprehension and de- 
tention of suspected persons. 

6. In Scotland, however, notwithstanding great precautions to the 
contrary, a rebellion actually broke out in the month of August, 
1,715, headed by the earl of Mar, late secretary of state for that 
kingdom ; and in September, the pretender's standard was erected 
at a place called Brae Mar, though the pretender himself did not ar- 
rive in Scotland till the December following ; before which time a 
severe action had taken place at Dunblain, between the contending 
armies, commanded on the side of the English by the duke of 
Argyle ; and on the side of the Scotch by the earl of Mar. The 
pretender, on reaching the shores of Scotland, was received with 
regal honours, and addresses were presented to him from many cor- 
porate bodies; even his coronation was fixed to take place on the 
23d day of January. But during the course of these transactions, 
the chief officers of his army, as soon after appeared, were but too 
well convinced of their perfect inability to terminate the coniest 
successfully, many things having fallen out to the disappointment of 
their hopes ; particularly the death of Lewis XIV., who, notwith- 
standing his protestations in favour of the house of Hanover, had 
secretly favoured their cause. The English army, besides, since the 
battle of Dunblain, had been considerably reinforced, by Dutch as 
well as English troops. This being the case, as we learn Irom an ac- 
count given by the earl of Mar himself, they felt compelled to abandon 
their enterprise for the present ; and in order to check the pursuit 
of the enemy, eager to seize the person of the pretender, they per- 
suaded the latter to leave the kingdom again, and return to France ; 
the earl of Mar himself accompanying him. They were followed, 
afterwards, by many leaders of the rebels, who, in a most extraordi- 
nary manner, escaped the English vessels stationed to intercept their 
pass:ige ; but some of those, who had previously iallen into the 
hands of the English, as the earl of Derwentwater, and others, were 
impeached, and pleading guilty, executed. IViany escaped by an act 
of grace. Thus was the rebellion, in a great measure, subdued ; 
congratulatory addresses poured in upon the sovereign, and a day of 



864 ^ MODERN HISTORY. 

public thanksgiving was appointed to be observed throughout the 
kingdom. 

6. The whigs, however, apprehending that their opponents, in a 
new parliament, might regain their ascendancy, and be able to carry 
into execution their projects against the existing government, brought 
in a bill, (since called the septennial bill,) for enlarging the continu- 
ance of parliament, whereby the term was extended from three to 
seven years, unless sooner dissolved by the king, and to begin with 
the parliament then chosen and assembled ; a most important meas- 
ure, and accidentally originating with a party more friendly in repute 
to the rights and liberty of the people than the step itself would 
seem to imply. Abstracted from all temporary or party considera- 
tions, it may justly be regarded as a very delicate and important 
point in politics, to determine either a maximum or minimum^ with 
regard to the duration of such elective assemblies as the English 
house of commons. Frequent elections being essentially necessary 
to preserve the people from any gross neglect of their interests by 
their representatives, or any unconstitutional encroachment on their 
liberty, as well as to remedy abuses ; but too frequent elections, hav- 
ing evidently the ill effect of keeping up party divisions, feuds, and 
animosities, interrupting business, and lessening the confidence of 
foreign states in the measures of government. Too frequent elec- 
tions, besides, by biinging independent candidates so much the 
oftener into a contest with tne treasury, (for government must have, 
and will always endeavour to exert, a powerful influence,) may in 
time deter such persons from a conflict so disadvantageous ; unless, 
in short, government influence in elections should be entirely done 
away, the more frequently they recur, the more they will harass 
and weaken private independence. (See Burke's works.) It was 
undoubtedly a bold step for any parliament, chosen under the popu- 
lar triennial act of king William, to enlarge its own continuance ; nor 
was it ill urged by a member of the house of peers, as an argument 
against the bill, that, "• it' the existing house of commons continued 
themselves beyond the time for which they were chosen, they were 
no more the representatives of the people, but a house of their own 
making." The whigs, however, had this excuse, that the proposed 
measure was calculated to suppress a rebellion, or pi'event the re- 
newal of one ; not raised, like other rebellions, under a pretence of 
liberty, but, in their eyes, clearly tending towards slavery, in the 
establishment of a catholic prince, and the destruction of the prot- 
estant interests, both in church and state. It was well that they as- 
signed any limit to their continuance, since a mere repeal of the 
triennial act would have left the term undefined. The bill was final- 
ly passed, after much opposition in the lower house, and a strong 
protest on the part of many lords in the upper, by a majority in the 
commons of 264 to 121 ; and it has continued the law of parliament 
ever since. 

7. In the year 1,717, an unpleasant dispute occurred, affecting the 
church, and which seems to have terminated the sittings of convo- 
cation. Dr. Hoadley, bishop of Bangor, gave occasion to it, by a 
sermon preached before the king, March 31, on ''The Nature of 
the Kingdom of Christ," and by a publication entitled, "a Preserva- 
tive against the Principles and the Practices of the Non-jurors." 
The bishop had been a warm friend to the revolution, and many of 
the principles he asserted were undoubtedly directed rather against 
popery than our own establishment ; while, in opposition to the jurt 



MODERN HISTORY. 265 

tKrwM) pretence of the tories, he declaimed violently against every 
abuse of authority, at the hazard of impairing all church discipline, 
derogating from the regal supremacy in " causes ecclesiastical," ana 
annulling the force of all civil sanctions whatsoever in matters of 
religion ; on these grounds the convocation took the matter up, but 
without much effect. It was dissolved in the midst of the controver- 
sy, and has never sat to do business since. Those who chiefly at- 
tacked the bishop in print, were Dr. Snape of Eton, dean Sherloclc, 
Dr. Cannon, (who undertook to vindicate the proceedings of convo- 
cation,) Dr. Potter, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, and Mr. 
William Law. Perhaps no antagonist entered the lists, with more 
decorum of manners, or integrity of disposition, than the latter, who, 
in several letters addressed to the bishop, plainly proved that, how- 
ever innocent his intentions might be, his arguments and expressions 
plainly tended to the subversion of all church authority, and the en- 
couragement of a most fatal indifference to every particular form of 
woi'ship and belief. Which, considering the high situation he held 
in the church, and the duties attached to that station, could not but 
appear in tlie light of an abandonment of those principles, which 
alone could have placed him there. Such, however, was the state 
of parties at the time, that the bishop was advanced to a higher post 
in the church, and some of the most forward of his opponents dis- 
missed from their employments about the court. 

8. In 1,718 George the first became a party to the celebrated 
quadruple alliance, formed to counteract the plans and projects of the 
Spanish minister Alberoni, (Sect. I. § 8.) who, while his views were 
chiefly directed towards his native country,. Italy, managed to involve 
almost the whole of Europe in contests and jealousies, exceedingly 
perplexing, and inimical to the peace and tranquillity of many states. 
Distant as Sweden was, geographically, from the seat and object of 
his manoeuvres, yet, in order to prevent any interruption from Eng- 
land, he had nearly instigated the celebrated Charles XII. to invade 
the latter country, for the purpose of restoring the pretender to the 
throne of his ancestors. His agents and accomplices, however, 
were fortunately detected in time to prevent the rupture between 
the two courts. George I. was no favourite, either with the Swedish 
monarch, or his celebrated competitor, the czar of Muscovy. 

9. The chief object of the quadruple alliance, as has been before 
hinted, was to reconcile and adjust the rival claims and pretensions 
of the courts of Vienna and Madrid. Alberoni had endeavoured, 
during the war between the emperor and the Turks, to get posses- 
sion of Sardinia, Sicily, and other places, for the sons of the queen 
of Spain, a princess of Parma, his native country. He had proposed, 
in short, to recover for Spain all that had been conceded and surren- 
dered by the treaty of Utrecht. (Part II. Sect. LXIV.) The inter- 
ference of England, in sending a fleet to the Mediterranean, to sup- 
port the rights of the emperor, according to treaty, at the very mo- 
ment when the Spanish forces were prepared to invade Sicily and 
the kingdom of Naples, exceedingly exasperated the cardinal min- 
ister, and induced him to heap reproaches on the British govern- 
ment for their precipitate proceedings, pretending that the Spaniards 
had in every instance manifested a favourable disposition towards 
England ; though nothing was more notorious than that her mer- 
chants had been scandalously ill-treated by them, and her minister 
at Madrid overwhelmed with complaints to that effect. The latter, 
indeed, stated afterwards in the house of commons, that he had pre» 

Z 34 



gCft MODERN HISTORY. 

sented, at the least, five-and- twenty memorials tb the court of Spain 
upon the subject, without redress ; and notwithstanding all these in- 
dignities, and to evince the desire of his government not too precipi- 
tately to commence hostilities, had communicated to the Spanish min- 
ister the numbers and force of the English lleet before it sailed, in 
order to convince him of its superiority, and deter him iVom the 
measures he had in view. The defeat of the Spanish fleet, off Sicily, 
by admiral Byng, August 1 ,7 1 8'i, ruined all the projects of Alberoni ; 
he soon after fell into disgrace, and was precipitated from the exalted 
station he had attained to by the strengtli of his genius ; which, what- 
ever liis enemies might allege, certainly bespoke a keen and vigi- 
lant statesman, and an able minister, as far as regarded the interests 
of the country he served, both foreign and domestic. 

10. Though so severe an action had taken place in the Mediter- 
ranean, between the English and Spanish fleets in the month of 
August, war was not formally declared at London till the close of 
the year 1,718, (Dec. 29^ between which period and the final dis- 
grace and retirement of the Spanish minister, he had attempted 
two measures of deep revenge, one on the power and person ot ttje 
duke of Orleans, regent of France, and the other on the govern- 
ment of George 1. of England, by an inv;ision of his dominions in 
lavour of the pretender, and under the direction of the expatriated 
duke of Ormond. It is remarkable that these projects were severally 
detected by the French regent and British monarch, in time to admit 
of their warning each other of the danger in which they were re- 
spectively placed, and of oflering the assistance which the cases re- 
quired. 

11. The war so suddenly and unexpectedly excited between 
Great Britain and Spain, was in no long course of time brought to 
an issue very honourable and glorious to the former ; admiral Byng, 
with his fleet in the Mediterranean, having so managed matters as 
fully to accomplish all the purposes of his mission, putting the em- 
peror into possession of Sicily, and the duke of Savoy of Sardinia, 
tinder circumstances of peculiar difliculty and embarrassment, owing 
to the obstinacy, backed by the bravery of the Spaniards, the hin- 
drances arising from a succession of governors at Naples, and the 
loss of lime in the necessary communications with his own court 
and that of Vienna. No man, perhaps, ever discharged so deUcate 
and arduous a commission, with more applause on the part of his 
own country and her allies, or with fewer complaints and less obloquy 
on the part of his opponents. The latter indeed, in this case, rather 
joined in the commendations so liberally bestowed on him by his em- 
ployers, at the termination of the short but vigorous contest. When 
be waited on the king at Hanover, his mnjesty is said, very justly, to 
have observed to him, that he had found out tiie secret of obliging 
his enemies as well as his friends ; alluding to the very honourable 
terms in which the Spaniards had expressed themselves concerning 
him, both as an officer and negotiator. He was most deservedly ad- 
vanced to the peerage, by the title of viscount Torrington, and had 
other appropriate honours bestowed upon him. Towards the close 
of the year 1,719, the king of Spain acceded to the terms of the 
quadruple alliance; his minister, on the urgent and joint demands 
of the king of England, the emperor, and regent of France, having 
been previously dismissed, and banished the kingdom of Spain. 

12. In the course of the year 1,719, a bill was brought into par- 
liament by the ministry, for Umiting the number of the peers. It 



MODERN HISTORY. 267 

originated with Lord Sunderland, who is said to have had in view to 
restrain the power of the prince of Wales, whom he had offended, 
when he should succeed to the throne. After much dehate, and it is 
supposed almost entirely through the influence of Sir Robert Wal- 
pole, it was rejected by a large majority, 269 to 177. 

13. In 1,720 the king was much occupied in affording protection 
and support to the protestant interests abroad, and in endeavouring 
to restore peace and tranquillity amongst the northern states. Swe- 
den, Denmark, Prussia, and Poland, reaped the fruits of his media- 
tion ; but the czar resisted his proposals, and, for some time, contin- 
ued to act against Sweden, in defiance of the combined operations of 
that country and England. He at last, however, consented to accept 
the mediation of France, and peace was established between Russia 
and Sweden, by the treaty of Nystadt, 1,721. 

1 4. Nothing occurred in this reign more disastrous in its conse- 
quences, or more strange and extravagant in its origin and progress, 
tlian the celebrated Suuih Sea scheme, whereby, though immense for- 
tunes were rapidly made i)y some, many individuals were ruined, 
and public credit alarmingly shaken. The details of this curious 
speculation and bubble (as it has been but too justly denominated,) 
it would be exceedingly uninteresting to enter into, in a work like 
the present, and they are easily to be found elsewhere ; but such au 
instance of public inlatuation, illusion, and credulity, was only to be 
matched by the Mississippi scheme, projected by Law, during the 
regency in France, which had a similar effect, and which was most 
probably the model from which Sir John Blunt, the projector of the 
South Sea scheme, took the hint. The French system has been sup- 
posed to have hacl sometliing more substantial in it, with respect to 
the exclusive trade to Louisiana. But the South Sea sche.me had 
certainly commercial advantages attached to it. The two schemes, 
it must be admitted, supply the most useful lesson to all wise states, 
not to tamper with the public credit, or countenance such suspicious 
projects ; for though both these adventures set out with very plau- 
sible pretences of public benefit, and a certainty of reheving, rather 
than distressing, the credit of the nation, their course and progress 
soon became such as to excite the most lively apprehensions in all 
considerate minds, of the consequences which actually ensued ; es- 
pecially in England. 

15. The politics of Europe were in a very perplexed state, to- 
wards the close of the reign of George 1., owing to two treaties, 
of which some account has been given in another place, but which 
were very important to the English nation. These were the trea- 
ties of \'ienua and Hanover, Uie former of which took place in 
April, and the latter in September, 1,725. By the former, the em- 
peror and Spain were supposed secretly to have bound themselves 
to procure the restitution of Gibraltar and Port Mahon, to the latter 
power; to aid the pretender, and to further the interests of the Os- 
fend East India Company, \vhich had given umbrage to England, 
Holland, and France. By the latter treaty, England was able to 
secure on hor side, against the jirojects of Austria and Spain, the 
kings of Prussia and Sweden, and the stales of Holland ; but as this 
aid was very slowly and reluctantly promised, and, in one instance, 
soon abandoned, the state of affairs would have been very alarming, 
but for the encouragement given by parliament, which was so effec- 
tual, that though considerable preparations for war took place on the 
part of almost all the nations coucerued, articles of peace, throu 



268 MODERN HISTOKV. 

the mediation of France, were agreed upon in May, 1,727, and ac- 
cepted by the imperial court and Spain ; by these the charter of the 
Ostend company was suspended lor a certain period, and the siege 
of Gibraltar, which had actually commenced, and been carried on 
for four mouths, raised and abandoned. 

16. George 1. died at Osnaburgh, on his way to his electoral do- 
minions, June 11, l,727,with the reputation of an honest and generous 
prince. He was brave in the tield, and wise in council ; having had 
many arduous negotiations on his hands, which he commonly con- 
ducted to a favourable issue ; not often, however, without large sub- 
sidies. His own measures were genenUly deliensive and preventa- 
tive. He was fortunate in the state of things, at the period of Queen 
Anne's death, and in the removal of Lewis XIV., and Charles XII. of 
Sweden, both of whom were personally unfriendly to him, and cer- 
tainly had projects on foot for the restoration of the Stuart family. 
King George constantly manifested a disposition to govern according 
to the laws and constitution of the kingdom. And it has been observ- 
ed to his credit, that the nation not only improved in wealth and 
credit during his reign, but enjoyed a greater degree of tranquillity 
at home, ami a longer duration of peace abroad, than during any 

eriod since the time of Queen Elizabeth. At the time of his death 

e was in the sixty-eighth year of his age. 



SECTION III. 



I 



AUSTRIA (.\ND GERMANY) FROM THE PEACE OF RASTADT, 
1,714, TO THE PEACE OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, 1,748. 

1. The affairs of Austria, as incidentally connected with those of 
France, Spain, England, Italy, and Prussia, from the year 1,713 to 
J ,738, have been already treated of in the preceding sections. It 
may be necessary, however, to take a brief view of matters, from the 
commencement of the reign of Charles VI., to the death of that mon- 
arch ; wliich event, as we shall have to show, greatly disturbed the 
whole of Europe, and occasioned the war whidi was terminated by 
the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1,748. 

2. Charles VI., who had borne a conspicuous part in the succession 
war, as a competitor for the Spanish throne, (Part II. Sect. LXIV.) 
became emperor in the year 1,711, on the demise of his elder 
brother, Joseph I. Though he had declined becoming a parly to 
the treaty of Utrecht, in 1,713, it was not long before he perceived 
his error, being left alone to support an expensive war. in the fol- 
lowing year, therefore, he received the proposals made to him by 
the court of Versailles, consented to the opening of conferenoes, in 
the month of November, 1,713, and, in the March following, 1,714, 
signed the treaty of Rastadt, by which he obtained possession of the 
Spanish Netherlands, (except the barrier towns ceded to Holland,) 
Naples, Sardinia, Milan, Frieburg, and Kehl. 

3. But he was very soon disturbed in a part of these acquisitions, 
by the restlessness and jealousy of Spain, already noticed. Great de- 
sisjns were forme<! against his Italian territories ; Sardinia actually 
taken from him, in 1,717 ; Sicily, in 1,718, and further encroachments 
pri^i-^cted, but for the timely interposition of the English, under 
admiral Byug, m the Mediterranean, (Sect. II. § 9, 11.) who soou 



MODERN HISTORY. 269 

brotight matters to a favourable issue for Austria, with infinite credit 
to himself, both as an officer and a negotiator. 

4. Sjniin had eagerly caught at the opportunity which presented 
ftself of making these attacks upon Austria, while the bitter power 
was engaged in war with Turkey, in aid of the Venetians. The 
Turks, (instigated, it has been said, by the Spanish minister, to 
engage the attention of Austria,) in violation of the treaty of Car- 
lowitz, had taken the Morea from the Venetians, betbre Austria 
came to their aid, in the year 1,716; nor, though from that time 
so powerfully assisted, were they able to recover that peninsula. 
Charles VI., however, was not long at variance with the Porte upon 
this occasion. As early as the year 1,718, through the extraordinary 
skill and valour of prince Eugene, the Austrian commander, things 
were brought to an issue, and a peace concluded, through the me- 
diation of England and Holland, at Passarowitz, by which the Turks 
were allowed to retain the Morea, on ceding to the Venetians some 
frontier towns in Albania and Dalmatia, while Austria obtaineil Bel- 
grade, the Bannat of Temoswar and Wallachia, as far as the Aluta :^ 
she was also able to establish a free commerce in all the harboui-s of 
the Black Sea, and of the Danube, as well as with the Persians. The 
early termination of this war, together with the successes of the 
English on the shores of Sicily, checked the operations of the Span- 
iards, and disposed them to agree to the terms of the quadruple al- 
liance. Spain and Austria, however, were not effectually reconciled 
till the year 1,725, at which period the emperor was induced to re- 
nounce his pretensions upon Spain and the indies. 

5. Charles \ I. was for a long time deeply occupied in endeavour- 
ing to preserve his own dominions from such difficulties as Spain had 
been involved in, at the beginning of this century, owing to the dis- 
puted succession to the Spanish throne, on the demise of Charles 11., 
and in which he had himself been so greatly concerned. He propos- 
ed, for this end, by a " Pragmatic Sanction," to make it a law, that 
if he should, at the time oi his death, have either sons or daugh- 
ters, the hereditary dominions and crowns belonging to the house of 
Austria, should remain united. In failure of such issue, male or fe- 
male, the daughters of his deceased brother, Joseph, were to succeed ; 
a»)d if they died without heirs, the inheritance was to pass to his sis- 
ters, and their descendants. When this act was proposed, at the 
diet of Ratisbon, it was violently resisted by the electors of Saxony 
and Bavaria, as well as the elector Palatine, but by the treaty of Vien- 
na, 1,731, as well as by previous negotiations at ti;o different courts of 
Europe, almost every power, except France, was brought to consent 
to the proposed regulations ; England and Holland, in particular, 
having been gained over by the emperors agreement to suppress the 
new East India Company which ne had endeavoured to establish 
at Ostend. The guarantee of France was not obtained till six years 
after, in recompense of the transfer of the duchies of Lorraine and 
i^ar to the latter power, on the demise of Stanislaus, king of Poland, 
"ivho obtained the government of those countries by the treaty of 
1.738. 

6. Charles VI. had scarcely succeeded in his great object of the 
ragmatic sanction, before he was engaged in a fresh war with the 

I'urks, in virtue of a treaty concluded with Russia, who had com- 

mtMiced hostilities against the Porte, in 1,736, The war on the 

art of Austria, however, was of very short duration. She had 

ost tiie support of her famous general, prince Eugene ; and her 

ZrZ 



S7§ MODERN HISTORl. 

armies, on the present occasion, appear to have been ill condacted. 
Jealousies and disagreements amongst the superior otficers, and a 
great want of resources, baffled all their operations. In 1,739, the 
emperor was compelled to submit to the terms of the treaty of 
Belgrade, which was highly advantageous to Turkey. Austria 
surrendered Servia, with the fortresses of Belgrade and Szabatch ; 
and Austrian Wallachia, with the fortress of Orsova. By the treaty 
of Belgrade, the Porte also obtained advantages over Russia ; but it 
is now known, that this convention was very artfully conducted by 
an agent of the French court, who was instructed not only to prevent 
the dismemberment of Turkey, by the combined forces of Austria 
and Russia, but to resist^ the aggrandizement of the former, and 
separate her, if possible, from her northern ally. 

7. In the year immediately following that in which the treaty of 
Belgrade had restored harmony between the two courts of Vienna 
and Constantinople, so much to the advantage of the latter, Charles 
VI. died, the last heir-male of the Austrian line of princes. Notwith- 
standing all the care he had taken to secure to his daughter the 
entire hereditary dominions of his family ; and thovigh almost the 
whole of Europe had guaranteed the indivisibility of his dominions, 
according to his wishes, he was no sooner dead than numerous 
claims were set up, and a war kindled, which may be said to have, 
in its progress, involved every European slate. The archduchess, 
Maria Theresa, consort of Francis, duke of Tuscany, according to 
the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, (which, however, had been ill 
drawn up,) succeeded, on the death of her father, to the following 
kingdoms, states, and territories : Hungary and Bohemia, Silesia 
and Austrian Suabia, Upper and Lower Austria, Styria^arinthia, 
Carniola, Burgau, Brisgau, the Low-Countries, Friuli, Tyrol, the 
Mantuauj and the Duchies of Milan, Parma, and Placentia. 

8. Unlortunately for the archduchess, Charles VI. had left his 
army in a bad condition, his Itiiances embarrassed, and, at the time 
of his death, a scarcity almost approaching to famine, prevailed in 
many parts of his dominions. All these circumstances combined, 
were calculated to raise up competitors for dift'erent portions of his 
estates. Nor were they at all tardy in advancing their claims. The 
elector of Bavaria pretended to be the proper heir to the kingdom 
of Bohemia. Augustus II., elector of Saxony and king of Poland^ 
having married the eldest daughter of Joseph 1., elder brother ol 
Charles VI., claimed the whole Austrian succession. The king of 
Spain did the same, though upon a more remote title, and entirely 
through females. The king of Sardinia made pretensions to the 
duchy of Blilan, and Frederic II., of Prussia, to the province of Sile- 
sia. 

9. Many of these several claimants had formally agreed to the 
terms of the pragmatic sanction, and even at first professed the most 
favourable dispositions towards the archduchess, who had taken quiet 
possession of all thut had descended to her; but the times, and the 
peculiar circumstances of the empire, encouraged them to break 
through their engagements; not, however, altogether without some 
pretence of honour and justice ; as was the case with France. The 
king of France had, as well as the kmgs of Poland and Spain, pre- 
tended to have derived a right from two princesses, married to Lew- 
is Xlll. and XIV., to the whole succession ; but choosing, rather than 
to depend upon these titles, to take the part oi" the elector of Bava- 
ria, he insisted that, in his guaranicc of the Pragmatic Sanction, by the 



MODERN HISTORY. 271 

clause " sine pmjiuiicio tertii,^'' he was fairly left at liberty to espouse 
any claims that should appear to him more just than those of the 
archduchess, queen of Hungary. This clause had, indeed, been in- 
troduced into some of the acts of guarantee, though not into all. 

10. Tlie most forward and active of the queen's opponents was a 
prince little known till then, Frederic king of Prussia, at that time 
about twenty-eight years of age. He had succeeded, through the 
prudence of his father, to an army and a treasury of no inconsider- 
able importance ; both of which he had himsi^if also found time to 
improve. His movements were sudden, and quite unexpected by 
the court of Vienna ; and he soon made known what his demands 
were, proposing that if they should be granted, he would support 
Austria against other enemies, and assist the queen in placing her 
husband on the imperial throne. He pretended, indeed, at hrst, to 
be only desirous of occupying Silesia, as a friend to tlie queen ; but 
the mask was soon laid aside, and his hxed determination to become 
master of Lower SUesia rendered visible to all the world. 

11. The queen would consent to the surrender of no part of her 
inheritance, though possibly her refusal in this instance, occasioned 
the alliance soon afterwards formed between the court of Vei'saiWes 
and Frederic, from which she suifered so much. England, it is said, 
counselled submission in the point of Silesia, foreseeing the conse- 
quences ; but worse consequences, perhaps, were to be apprehend- 
ed, had she complied, it would, in all likelihood, have disposed 
others to urge their claims with greater importunity. 

12. Aided by France and Saxony, the elector of Bavaria, towards 
the middle of the year 1,741, acquired possession of the kingdom of 
Bohemia, and was proclaimed king, and inaugurated with great 
solemnity; and, on the 12th of February, 1,742, he had the imperi;il 
dignity conferred on him by the diet ol Frankfort, under the title of 
Charles VII., having been chosen, however, when some of the elec- 
tors were disqualitied from voting. 

13. Never was there a greater prospect of a total dismemberment 
of the Austrian dominions than at this lime. Ditferent parts were 
regularly assigned to the several claimants, and nothing left for the 
daughter of Charles VI. but the kingdom of Hungary, tlie province 
of Lower Austria, the Belgian states, and the duchies of Carinthia, 
Styria, and Carniola. Precautions had even been taken to prevent 
her deriving any aid from Russia, by exciting Sweden to declare war 
against the latter power. But the spirit of this surprising woman 
was not to be broken by the powerful combination against her. She 
had, at the very commencement of her reign, in a singular and ex- 
traordinary manner, and with consummate wisdom, particularly by 
tdtiog the ancient oath of king Andrew II., attached to her interests 
the brave Hungarians. Repairing to them with her ioliuit son, she 
threw herself entirely upon their protection, and, iu the most public 
manner, addressing thetn in the Latin language, at a special assembly 
of the states, presented her child to them in terms the most pathetic. 
Supported by their valour, and with the help of English and Dutch 
money, she batlled all her enemies, and finally dissipated the storm 
that so rudely threatened her. It was not, indeed, until VValpole was 
removed from the English ministry that the queen received any ac- 
tive assistance from the king of England ; but afterwards, both in 
Flanders and Italy, he was a powerful ally. She also derived some 
succours Irom the king of Sardinia, not, however, very creditably 
purchased with regard to Genoa. 



«72 MODERN HISTORY. 

14. Had the nvimerous powers first armed against Maria Theresa^ 
or intimidated into a state of neutrality, agreed amongst themselves, 
it would have been impossible for the queen to have withstood their 
attacks ; but, fortunately for her, many stood so directly in a state of 
rivalship towards each other, and France was such an object of sus- 
picion and alarm to almost all the other confederates, that Iheir very 
ijrst movements produced jealousies and divisions amongst themji 
and, what is very remarkable, the earliest who showed a disposition 
to treat with the queen was the king of Prussia, in consequence of 
the successes of the elector of Bavaria in Bohemia. 

15. The interference of England, in behalf of the queen, did at 
first, indeed, only exasperate France, and the other allies of Charles 
V II., and excite them to a more vigorous opposition. But the death 
of the emperor, in the year 1,745, who had derived no happiness, 
but, indeed, a great deal of misery, from his short exaltation, and his 
son's prudent and wise abandonment of such high dignities, in order 
to secure his quiet possession of his paternal dominions, left the 
queen at liberty to procure lor her husband, Francis, grand duke of 
Tuscany, the imperial crown ; his election to which took place in 
the month of September of the same year ; the queen agreeing to 
admit the young elector of Bavaria to the full possession of his he- 
reditary dominions, and to acknowledge his father, Charles Vll., to 
have been duly invested with the imperial dignity. After some 
signal successes, the queen's great adversary, Ine king of Prussia, 
also came into her terms, having agreed, in a treaty concluded at 
Dresden, to acknowledge the validity of Francis's election, on being 
put in possession of Silesia and the county of Glatz, the chief objects 
for which he had been contending. The elector Palatine was like- 
wise included in this treaty. 

1<3. The French continued the war in the Netherlands, as well 
as ill Italy, and with considerable success ; but the queen being a 
good deal disembarrassed by the peace she had been able to con- 
clude with Prussia, had it soon in her power to recover all that 
the French and Spaniards had acquired in Italy, while the French 
conquests in Flanders and Holland led to the re-establishrnent of 
the stadtholdei"ship, and thereby baffled all their hopes of future 
advantages in those parts. The interference of the empress of 
Russia, subsidized by England, and, above all, the peculiar situation 
of the. king of France, whose fimmces were almost exhausted, and 
who had suS'ered severe losses by sea, tended to bring matters to an 
issue. A congress was opened at Aix-la-Chapelle, which, though 
rather slow in its operations, at last terminated in a peace, concluded 
October 7, 1,748, exactly a hundred years after the famous treaty 
of Westphalia, which served for a basis of the negotiations entered into_ 
upon this occasion. By this convention, as in most other instances of 
the same nature, there was so general a restitution of conquests, as 
plainly to mark the lolly and injustice of having continued the war 
so long. During this contest, in the year 1,743, died the cardinal de 
Fleuiy, first minister of France, at the very advanced age of ninety. 
He did not assume the reins of government till he was seventy- 
three. He had many virtues, but was much more admired by his 
countrymen for his integrity and disinterestedness, than for energy 
of character, or public spirit. 

17. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle bringing us, as nearly as can be, 
to the middle of the eighteenth century, it may be well to take a 



MODERN HISTORY. 273 

Yiew of Europe at this particular period, and as connected with 
this celebrated treaty ; but this must be reserved for a future section. 



SECTION IV. 

ENGLAND FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE II. TO THE 
THRONE, 1,727, TO HIS DEATH, 1,760. 

1. The accession of George II., who came to the throne 1,727, ia 
the 44th year of his age, and in a time of profound peace, was not at- 
tended with such changes as many had expected. Even the minis- 
ter himself, sir Robert VValpole, is said to have been surprised at the 
reception ne met with from his majesty, on the demise of the late 
king, and at the continuance of the power in his hands. But this is 
now known to have been owing to the wise and prudent care of 
queen Caroline, who, at this moment, was found to possess an influ- 
ence over her royal consort, which had been by many little suspect- 
ed, but which her extreme good sense, and discreet conduct, seemed 
fully to justify. The whigs might justly be considered as the truest 
friends of the house of Hanover and the protestant church ; and 
their continuance in power at the commencement of a new reign, 
though very grating to the adverse party, seemed to be extremely 
favourable to the quiet of the nation. 

2. The good-will which had sprung up, and been encouraged dur- 
ing the regency, between the rival courts of Versailles and London, 
was not materially disturbed duiing the whole administration of 
Walpole, and his pacitic contemporary, canlinal Fleury ; the queen 
being also friendly to peace. But as it is not easy for any peaceable 
government long to escape the encroachments ot otiier states, Spain, 
apparently presuming on the forbearance or apathy of the British 
ministry, committed great depredations, for a series of years, upon 
the trade of England with America and the West-Indies, committing 
many acts of most atrocious cruelty, in addition to their other deeds 
of insult and plunder. Some steps were at length taken to remedy 
these evils, but the conduct of Spain was so generally resented by 
the nation, as to render even the convention, by which tiie disputes 
were referred to arbitration, extremely unpopular. It being thought, 
by many of all descriptions, not only that the grievances complained 
of had been too long submitted to and endured, and the measures 
hitherto taken to redress them been too tame and submissive, but 
that nothing less than a war could restore the lost consequence of 
the state, or bring such offenders to reason. 

3. The Spiiniards, indeed, had delended their conduct in many 
memorials, pretending that the English were the aggressors, in car- 
rying on a contraband and unlawful trade with their colonies ; but 
had this been capable of proof to the extent the Spaniards pretend- 
ed, which was certainly not the case, there is no doubt but that they 
suffered themselves to be hurried into most unjustifiable excesses in 
their measures of reprisal, and exceedingly ill-treated both the mer- 
chants and sailors of England. They insisted upon a general right 
of search, on the open seas, and condemned the ships and cargoes, 
upon such frivolous pretences as could not fail to be extremely in- 
jurious and oppressive, and quite contrary to existing treaties. In 
one instance, a whole lieet of English merchant-ships, at the island of 

35 



i2'74 MODERN HISTORY. 

Tortugas, was attacked by Spaniards, as if the two nations had been 
• at open war. 

4. It would be scarcely possible, perhaps, to justify entirely the 
extraordinary forbearance of the Britisii government, for nearly 
twenty years, during which not only these indignities had been con- 
tinually repeated, but express engagements, and promises to redress 
and abstain from such aggressions in future, notoriously violated. 
This had been remarkably the case with respect to the stipulations 
of the treaty of Seville, concluded in the year 1 ,729. There were 
very warm debates in parliament on the subject, and the ministry 
were hard pressed to defend themselves from the charge of supine- 
ness, gross indifference to the sufferings of the merchants, and the 
honour of tbe crown, and, in some instances, even of criminal conniv- 
ance. And, indeed, their opponents obtained, at length, this triumph 
over them, that the very convention which was to be the prelimina- 
ry of a perfect adjustment of differences, and a surety for the indem- 
nification of the merchants for all their losses, was, like every pre- 
ceding treaty and compact, disregarded by Spain, and war obliged 
to be declared before the year was out, to compel her to more 
just and equitable measures. The war, however, was not so success- 
ful as to render it clear that the pacific and wary proceedings of the 
British minister were otherwise than most prudent and wise, consid- 
ering the general circumstances of Europe. " Omnia prius expe- 
riri verbis quam armis sapientem decet,"' is a maxim which has 
been applied to the conduct of sir Robert Walpole, by an author, 
not backward to admit that, on some points, in regard to continental 
politics, the pacific system was carried too far. The period during 
which it prevailed will, certainly, for ever be a remarkable era in 
English history, especially as the reigning sovereign was notorious- 
ly a soldier, and by no means personally disposed to adopt so inactive 
a line of conduct. 

5. Though the people had been clamorous for the/ war with 
Spain, they were soon dissatisfied with the conduct of it, and that to 
so great a degree, as to compel the minister, sir Robert Walpole, 
though with considerable reluctance, to resign his appointments ; 
which took place in February, 1,742; the approbation of his sove- 
reign being manifested in his elevation to the peerage, by the title of 
earl of Oxford, tie was succeeded by lord Carteret. Sir Robert 
Walpole had been an able, intelligent, and prudent minister ; a con- 
stant lover of peace, in the way of defence and prevention ; and i 
upon this he prided himself : he was of the whig party, which ex- 
posed him much to the rancour, not only of those whose political 
opinions were different, but of many disappointed persons who 
thought with him. By these he was stigmatized as having reduced 
corruption to a system ; but by others, this charge was as confidently 
repelled ; nor would it be difficult to prove that, though he often spoke 
as if he knew every man's price, he governed, not by corruption, | 
but by party attachments, as his friends and admirere have alleged, l 
Upon two great occasions his plans were thwarted by some who 1 
lived to see and correct their errors, as was the case, particularly, ' 
with Mr. Pitt, in regard to the excise bill, first proposecl to the house . 
of commons in the year 1,732. There was never, perhaps, a case jl 
in which party, faction, and ignorance prevailed more over truth, * 
and justice, and prudence. The bill was calculated to check and ( 
control the most gross and pernicious frauds upon the revenues ; to 'J 
favour and encourage, in every possible manner, the fair dealer, | 

i 



MODERN HISTORY. 27^ 

fand through him the pubhc in general,) and by tlie savings pro- 
duced in the treasury, materially to lighten the public burthens : yet 
such a clamour was raised against the measure, from its first sugges- 
tion, as to oblige the minister to abandon it. 

6. The other measure, which brought great odium on this able 
minister of finance, was his trespass on the sinking fund, first estab- 
lished in 1,727, and which he made no scruple to alienate for public 
purposes, as occasion seemed to require. The very name of this 
lund is not equally applicable to all times. At first it arose entirely 
from savings, and its perpetual or uninterrupted operation under such 
circumstances, would appear to have been an indispensable part of 
its character. It had been calculated as proceeding upon the basis 

. of compound interest; while new loans and debts, contracted for 
pressing emergencies, were held to burthen the public in the way 
of simple interest only. But in these days, the whole state of the 
question is changed. The modern sinking fund is not a sinking fund 
of surpluses or savings, but in itself a borrowed fund ; of great power 
and great utility, occasionally, but plainly at the command of the 

{)ubUc, whenever the current expenses cannot be provided for at a 
ess cost ; and, indeed, often beneficially to be applied to such pur- 
Eoses, in greater or less proportions, to the avoidance of many 
eavy charges of management, high premiums, and new taxes. The 
alienation of the original sinking iund, by sir Robert Walpole, how- 
ever, has been very ably defended since, though opposed and resist- 
ed, at the time, with a virulence and animosity exceedingly distress- 
ing to that minister. 

7. The new administration, which came into power on the resig- 
nation of Walpole, so little answered the expectations of tlieir 
friends, deviated so soon from the principles they had avowed, while 
in opposition, and seemed so much more disposed to espouse the 
cause of Hanover, at the expense, and to the loss, of England, in 
useless subsidies and foreign wars, than to attend to the domestic 

.difficulties under which she was supposed to be labouring, that they 
became, in a very short time, quite as unpopular as their predeces- 
sors, and in 1,745, the very year in which Walpole died, the rebel- 
lion broke out in Scotland. 

8. This attempt agamst the house of Hanover, undertaken by the 
heir of the Stuart family, in person, was, undoubtedly, an ill-con- 
ducted, as it was ultimately an unsuccessful, enterprise ; though to 
call it altogether a weak one, would be contrary to historical truth. 
Its commencement, indeed, had all the appearance of the most ro- 

' mantic infatuation, but in its progress it became so formidable, as 
even to threaten the capital of England, and the protestant succes- 
sion ; nor was it subdued without great efforts and exertions on the 
part of the king's forces, so unavailing and disheartening at first, as 
j to render the issue of the contest extremely problematical. It was, 
1 in fact, at the beginning, despised and neglected, by the lords of the' 
regency, in the absence of the king, who was then at Hanover, so 
I that time was given for such an accession of friends and adherents to 
I the cause of the pretender, while the English army was left without 
1 any adequate reinforcements, that the rebels not only got possession 
of Edinburgh, after a very severe but most successful action with 
I the English, at Preston Pans, but were able to march, unmolested, 
far into England, and even to retreat, in the face of a powerful army, 
under circumstances peculiarly creditable to the prowess, humanity, 
I and military skill of the Scottish commander. 



276 MODERN HISTORY. 

9. Had the young prince met with the encouragement he expect- 
ed on his march to the south, he might have possessed himseh'of the 
EngUsh, as he had done of the Scotch, capital ; but his hopes of aid 
•were, considering all things, strangely and cruelly disappointed. 
Not a soul joined him, of any importance, though he had advanced 
nearly to the very centre of the kingdom ; while the French failed 
to fulfil their engagement of invading the soiithern parts of the 
island, in order to divide and occupy the English army, so that his 
retreat became a point of prudence perfectly inevitable, however 
mortifying and grating to the gallant spirit of Charles, who un- 
doubtedly manifested a strong disposition to proceed against all obsta- 
cles. 

10. The conflict between the two nations, on this occasion, was b 
greatly affected by the religious tenets and principles of the oppos- M 
jng parties. Had Scotland been entirely caliiolic, the hopes of the s , 
Stuart family would have been extremely Treasonable ; but it was, jj 
at this period, divided between the presbyferians and the catholics ; | i 
the Lowlanders being of the former sect, and the Higtilanders, gen- '] 
erally speaking, of the latter. The presbyterigns, whv had gained j 
great advantages, in the way of toleration, by tiio revolution, having i 
become vvhigs in principle, naturally adheied to the house of Kan- ji 
over, w hile the catholic Highlanders were quiie as fully and as nat- f 
urally inchned to support thcii' native prince. Nothing could be ll 
wiser, perhaps, under these circumstances, than the sending a prince 
of the blood to command the 1 litish forces, and, as it happened, no 
ofhcer of the British army could be more popular than the duke of 
Cumberland, at this very period. His royal highness joined the 
army at Edinburgh, not long after the bijttle of Falkirk, in which 
the English, under general Hawley, had recently sustained a check. 
The duke, indeed, had been expressly recalled from I'kuiders, to 
suppress the rebellion, which was, in no small degree, detrimental 
and injurious to the cause of the allies. 11 

11. The conduct of the son of the pretender was certainly that I: 
of a brave but inconsiderate young man. Sanguine in his expecta- |f 
lions, beyond what any circumstances of the case would completely \\ 
justify, he, in more instances than one, committed himself too tar, and If 
at the very last exposed himself to a defeat, which niight, at least, 1} 
have been suspended or mitigated, if not totally avoided, lie made If 
a stand against the king"'s forces at Culloden, while his troops were a 
in a bad condition for lighting, and when it would obviously have | 
been belter policy to have acted on the defensive ; to have retired l 
beiore his adversary, till he had led him into the more impractica- fj, 
ble parts of the highlands, where all his military means would || 
have been crippled, and a retreat, perhaps, at least, have been jil 
rendered indispensabiy necessary; but by risking the battle of Cullo- ' 
den, (April 16, 1,746) he lost every thing. The duke of Cumber- jfi 
land gained a most decisive victory ; and so completely subdued the j/! 
hopes and spirits of his young opponent, that he never aft(>rwards |r 
joined his friends, though solicited, and indeed engaged, so to do ; but '>(' 
wandering about the country for a considerable time, with a price of uf 
j£30,0UU set on his head, after enduring incredible hardships and *r 
difficulties, embarked for France ; and thus terminated for ever the ;r 
straggles of that exiled and d8posed family to recover its ancient "'j 
dominions. The very remarkable instances of attacliment, fidelity, (' 
and pure hospitality,' by which, after the battle of Culloden, the 
tmfortunate fugitive was preserved from the hands of his pursuers, 



MODERN HISTORY. 2^ 

Surpass any thing of the kind recorded in history, and reflect indelible 
credit on the high and disinterested feelings and principles of those 
who assisted him in his escape. 

12. The most melancholy circumstance attending this rash un- 
dertaking, was the necessity that arose for making examples of those 
who had abetted it, in order more securely to fix on the throne of 
Great Britain the reigning family ; who, having acquired that right 
in the most constitutional manner, could not be dispossessed of it, but 
by an unpardonable violation of the law. Of the excesses committed 
by the English troops after the battle of Culloden, it is to be hoped, 
as indeed it has been asserted, that the accounts are exaggerated ; 
but in the common course of justice, many persons, and some of the 
highest rank, ut)derwent the sentence of death for high treason, 
whose crime, through a melancholy infatuation, must in their own 
eyes have appeared the very reverse, and whose loyalty and attach- 
ment, under different circumstances, and v/ith the law and constitution 
on their side, would have deserved the highest praise. Though 
many of the adherents of the pretender suffered, many of them 
made their escape beyond sea, and arrived safely at the dilTc^rent 
ports of the continent. No attempts have since been made by any of 
the catholic descendants of the royal family of Great Britain to dis- 
turb the protestant succession in the house of Brunswick. 

13. This illustrious house sustained a very unexpected and mel- 
ancholy loss, in the year 1,750, by the death of his royal highness 
the prince of Wales, father of his hite majesty ; who, in consequence 
of a cold caught in his gardens at Kew, died of a pleuritic disorder, 
on the twentieth day of March, in the forty-fifth year of his age. 
He was a prince endowed with many amiable qualities ; a munificent 
patron of the arts, a friend to merit, and sincerely attached to the in- 
terests of Great Britain. 

14. In the course of the year 1,751, a remarkable act was passed 
in parliament, for correcting the calendar, according to the Gregori- 
an computation. It was enacted, that the new year should begin 
on the first of January, and that eleven days between the second and 
fourteenth days of September, 1,752, should for that time be omitted, 
50 that the day succeeding the second, should be called the fourteenth 
of that month. This change was on many accounts exceedingly im- 
portant, but to persons wholly unacquainted with astronomy, it ap- 
I)eared a strangely arbitrary interference with the currency and set- 
tied distinctions of time. 

15. Though the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle^ in 1,748, may be said 
to have restored peace to Europe, the English and French came to 
no good understanding with regard to their remote settlements. 
The war in those parts involved the interests of the natives or set- 
tlers, as well as of the two courts, and scarcely seems to have fallen 
under the consideration of the negotiating ministers. In the east and 
in the west many disputes and jealousies were raised, which though 
referred to special commissioners to adjust, in no long course of time 
involved both countries in a fresh war, the particulars of which will 
be found elsewhere : a war which extended to all parts of the globe, 
and continued beyond the reign of George II., who died suddenly 
at Kensington, in 1,760, in the 77th year of his age," and 34th of his 
reign. 

16. George II. was a prince of high integrity, honour, and vera- 
city, but of a warm and irritable temper, of a warlike disposition, 
and though for a long time restrained by his pacific minister, sir 

Aa 



278 MODERN HISTORY 

Robert Walpole, from taking any active part in the disputes of the 
continent, yet constantly inclined to do so, from an attachment, very 
natural, tnough unpopular amongst his British subjects, to his Ger- 
man dominions. He was greatly under the intluence of his queen, 
while she lived, "whose mild, prudent, and conciliating manners," 
to use the words of a very impartial and judiciuus biographer, 
" were more congenial to the character of the English nation." 
Queen Caroline had indeed many great and splendid virtues ; though 
of most amiable and domestic habits, she was well versed in the 
politics of Europe, and had considerable literary attainments, which 
disposed her to be a friend to learned persons, particularly to many 
members of the church, of which several striking and remarkable 
instances have been recorded. It is suthcient to mention the names 
of Herring, Clarke, Hoadley, Butler, Sherlock, Hare, Seeker, and 
Pearce. She was the daughter of John Frederick, margrave of 
Brandenburgh Anspach, and was born in the year 1,683. She was 
married to his majesty in 1,705, and had issue two sons and live 
daughters. Her death, which occassioned great grief to her royal 
consort and family, took place on the !£Uth of JNovember, 1,733, 
when she was in the 55th year of her age. 



SECTION V. 

STATE OF EUROPE AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE PEACE 
OF AIX-LA-CHAFEELE, 1,748. 

1. By the treaty of Aix-la-Chapel!e the house of Hanover was 
effectually established on the throne of Great Britain, to the entire 
exclusion of the Stuart family. Though the peace was not popular 
in England, and she was supposed by many to have made too great, 
and in some instances ignominious concessions, yet it was certainly, 
fortunate for her that the continental powers confined their views to a 
balance which did not extend to the sea ; and thereby left in her 
hands a force, beyond calculation superior to that of the other 
countries of Europe, and amounting almost to a monopoly of com- 
merce, credit, and wealth, so as to render her, as it were, the chief 
agent or principal, in all political movements, for the time to come. 
Her prosperity, indeed, had been on the increase, in no common de- 
gree, from the accession ol the Brunswick fan)i!y. 

2. Austria lost, by the treaty of 1,748, Silesia and Glatz, the 
duchies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla, and some places in 
the Milanese : but she succeeded, and chielly at the expense of her 
allies, in the article of the succession. Ail Ibimer treaties were 
formally recognised, which involved indeed other losses to the em- 
pire, it compared with the time of Charles V. ; but the dominions 
of the latter were certainly too extensive, and too detached, to form 
a great and stable empire. This, indeed, may be said to have been 
the case with regard even to the reduced domains of Charles VI. ; 
but his high-spirited daughter, Maria Theresa, was to the last indig- 
nant at the losses she had sustained. She collected the error into 
which she had fallen with regard to Genoa, and which occasioned 
great commotions there, by consenting to let the marquisate of Final 
revert to that republic, which had been very arbitrarily given, in 
the course of the war, as a bribe to the king of Sardinia, and made ki 
a free port, to the evident disadvantage of the Genoese, who had 



MODERN HISTORY. 279 

originally purchased it for a valuable consideration, under the guar- 
antee of Great Britain. 

3. Prussia gained, by the treaty of x\ix-la-Chapelle,iSilesia, and 
the countv of Glatz,, which were guaranteed to her by all the con- 
tracting powers ; and by this accession of territory she was raised 
into the condition of a power capable of entering into the field of 
action, as a rival of Austria ; which might have been foreseen, when 
Leopold erected it into a kingdom, for the express purpose of coun- 
terbalancing the power of France. As it was, the unity of the em- 
pire seemed to be dissolved, and a door set open to future revolutions 
in the Germanic body. The character and subsequent achievements 
of Frederick II. contributed greatly to the aggrandizement of his do- 
minions. He was active, bold, fond of glory, and indefatigable. He 
was brave in the field, and wise in the cabinet. Desirous of shining 
in all that he undertook, he was indefatigable in keeping his army 
constantly ready for all emergencies, and in repairing the damages to 
which his dominions had been subjected by his ambition. He drew 
to him many eminent persons of all countries, of whose society he 
pretended to be tbnd ; but he oftentimes showed himself to be a 
most merciless tyrant, a blunderer in political economy, and, if not 
quite an atheist, very lax in his principles of religion. 

4. Holland lost much by the peace, and gained nothing. Some, 
indeed, doubted whether she did not greatly endanger her indepen- 
dence, by consenting to make the stadtholdership hereditary in the 
house of Orange, and that in favour of the female as well as male 
heirs of the family : but others conceived that this approach to mo- 
narchical government greatly strengthened the republic ; and it would 
indeed seem that it had declined much in power and consequence, 
from the very period when that office was abolished, in the preced- 
ing century. One precaution was adopted with regard to the female 
heirs to the Stadtholdership : they were precluded trom marrying any 
king, or elector of the empire ; a precaution which there were, in 
the history of Europe, sufficient reasons to justify. 

5. Spain obtained, for two branches of her royal family, the kingr 
doai of Naples, and the duchies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla • 
the latter to revert to Austria, that is, Parma and Guastalla, and Pla- 
centia to Sardinia, should the new duke, don Philip, die without issue, 
or succeed to either of the kingdoms of Spain or Naples. But the 
power of Spain was not much increased, either by land or sea. On 
the lirtter, indeed, the English had an overwhelming superiority; 
and, on land, though her armies were bi-ave, they were generally ill 
conducted, and her government too bad to render her respectable 
in the eyes of Europe. Ferdinand VI., indeed, the successor of 
Philip, who came to the throne just before the conclusion of the 
treaty, applied himself, with no small degree of credit, to retrieve 
the character of the nation. 

6. Austria, by seeking an alliance with Russia, had introduced the 
latter 'power into the southern states of Europe, and given her consid- 
erable weight and consequence, as a counterbalance to her great 

[.rival, France. Scarcely known at the commencement of the century, 
the movement impressed upon this mighty empire by the extraor- 
I dinary genius and vigour of reter the first, had carried her forward, 
with a rapid progression ; so that, by the middle of the century, she 
t might justly be regarded as amongst the most considerable powers of 
I Europe. Her armies were, perhaps, more than semi-barbarous; but 
' they were brave, indefatigable, hardy, and supported by the reli- 



•80 aiODERN HISTORSr. 

gious principle of predestination; the foundation of a desperate 
kind of hardihood, seldom to be resisted. Her internal resources 
were not at all considerable, but they were daily improving. When 
Peter the tirst came to the crown, her revenues amounted to six 
millions of roubles; in 1,748 they were nearly quadrupled. Thus 
rapidly advancing, with one arm reaching to the Baltic, and the 
other to the Black sea, it was very obvious to discern that when, by 
good management, her gigantic body should be duly invigorated, 
she had every chance of becoming a most formidable power. 
Already had she shown herself such, to a great degree, in the intlu- 
ence she had acquired in Sweden. Denmark, and Poland ; in her 
commercial treaties with England, her alliance with Austria, and her 
wars with the Turks. Her resources and means of improvement 
were great ; rivers not only navigable during the summer, but during 
the winter also, affording, by means of sledges, every opportunity 
«)f a quick and easy transport of all sorts of commercial goods ; the 
greater part of her southern provinces fertile, and requiring little 
culture ; mines of gold, iron, and copper; great quantities of timber, 
pitch, tar, and hemp. She had not yet learned to manufacture her 
own productions, or to export them in her own ships, and conse- 
quently to make tiie most of them : but she was in the way to learn 
such arts, and when once attained, she had the fairest prospects of 
acquiring a decided superiority, not only in the Baltic, luid White 
sea, b>it on the Black sea and Caspian. 

7. Turkey, at the middle of the eighteenth century, was compar- 
atively a gainer by the wars in which she had been engaged. She 
had taken the Morea from the Venetians, recovered Irom Austria 
Belgrade, Servia, and some provinces of Transylvania and Wallachia, 
and had hitherto ballled the attempts of Bussia, to get absolute pos- 
aession of tiie Crimea, aufl of the mouths of the Danube. 

8. France obtained liule in point of extent by the treaty of Aix- 
la-Chapelle, but that little was of extreme importance. The posses- 
sion o4^ Lorraine, in addition to Alsace, and sevenil strong torts on the 
Rhine, strengthened and completed, in the most perfect manner, her 
eastern frontier, antl placed her in a most commanchng altitude with 
regard to the German states. During tiie administration oi cardinal 
Fleuiy, which lasted till the year 1,7 lv3, her marine had been de- 
plorably neglected, while the English had been able to enrich them- 
selves at the expense of the French, particularly by intercepting 
many valuable convoys, and capturing many ships of her reduced *iavy . 

9. An author of reputation has proposed to throw the different 
Euroj^jean states, at the conclusion of the peace of 1,748, into the 
four lollowing classes : — 

1. Those that having armies, fleets, money, and territorial resour- 
c«:s, could make war without foreign alliances. Such were England 
and France. 

2. Those that with considerable and powerful armies, were de- 
pendent on foreign resources. Austria, Prussia, and Russia. 

3. Those that could not engage in war, but in league with other 
states, subsidized by tliem, and always regarded in the light of sec- 
ondary powers by the large ones. Portugal, Sardinia, Sweden, 
Denmark. 

4. Such as were interested in maintaining themselves in the same 
condition, and free from the encroachment of othei-s. Switzerland, 
Genoa, \ enice, and the German states. 

Holland, Spain, and Najjles, being omitted in the above account^ 



MODERN HISTORY. 281 

might reasonably be thrown into a fifth class, as countries generally 
so connected with England, France, and Austria, as to be constantly 
involved in every war aft'ecting either of those countries. 



SECTION VI. 
OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR, 1,775—1,762. 

1. TuorcH for some short time after the conclusion of the peace 
of Aix-la-Chapellc, in 1,748, England and Prance seemed to enjoy, 
in no common degree, the hles>:ings of peace, and to be upon a toot- 
ing of perfect amity with each other, yet it would appear that the 
seeds of a future ^var were sown in the very circumstances of that 
convention. (Epsjland was loft in possession of such a prcponderaling 
force at sea, whiTe the French marine, through the parsimony or in- 
attention of cardinal Flciiry, had t'allen in',) so low a state of depres- 
sion, 'that it is not to be wondered that all who were interesied about 
the latter, should have their mind>*lllled with jealousy and resentment. 
This was soon manifested, not only l)y the \igorous attempts made at 
this time to restore tlie marine of France, but in the projects ioimed 
for dispossessing the 'English of their principal settlement* in tiie I'.ast 
Indies and America ; a blow which might have been far more llital to 
the English nation, than any leagues or confederacies in tin our of the 
pretender. To secure the co-operation and support of Spain in these 
designs, France had endeavoured, in the year l,7a.S, to ilraw the lat- 
ter into a family compact^ which, though afterwards brought Shout, 
was at this time succes-^fully fru'^tratefl, by the extraordinary care 
and vigilance of the British minister at Madrid. 

2. The peace established in Eurone in 1,718, can scarcely be said 
to have ever been effectually extended to A*ia and Amerii;a. The. 
conquests on each side indeed had been relinquished and surrendei*eJ 
by that treaty, but in a most negligent manner witti respect to limits 
and boundaiies; and in each of those di-lant settlements, Fnmce at 
that time happened to have able and enterpri>*ing servants, who 
thought they saw, in their respective governments, such means of 
aggrandizing themselves and tht-ir country, and of tlnvarting the 
Hrili-h interest, as were not to be overlooked or neglected. In the 
East Indies very extraordinary attempts were made to reduce the 
whole peninsula of India Proper, in short, the whole !\Iogul empire, 
under the dominion of France, by an artful interlorence in the ap- 
pointment of the governors of kingdoms and pro\ inros, the Souhaii- 
f/cir.<,.V«/x;6'>-, an I Rajalix. The powrrof the mogul bad been irrevoca- 
bly shaken by Kouli-Ivhan, in 1,7JB, t'rom which time the viceroys 
and other subordinate governors hail slighted his ;iuthority, and, in 
a greater or less degree, become independent. The interference of 
the French was calculated to throw things into contusion, by dispos- 
ses-ing those who were adverse to them of th^'ir governments and 
territories, and thus compelling them, as it were, to s-^ek succour from 
the English ; which ultimately brought the two rival nations of Eu- 
rope into a state of hostility, not as avowed pi'incipals, but as the 
auxiliaries of the dilTerent native princes or nabobs. In no long 
coui-se of time, things took a turn entirely in fiivour of the English 
and thi ir allies; thetVench were baflled in all their projects, every 
place they possessed taken from them, a suspension of arms agreed 
VpoD, in 1,754, and the French governor,, Dupleix, the ambitious and 

A a 2 "^ 36 



202 MODERN HISTORY. 

enterprising auUior and fomenter of all the troubles, but who had 
been ill-snpported by his government at home, recalled Irom India. 

3. It was at this period that the celebrated Mr. Clive, afterwards 
lord Clive, tirst distinguished himself, who had not only discernment 
enough to see through and detect all the artifices and designs of 
Dupleix, but, though not brought up to the military profession, soon 
displayed such skill and courage in conducting the operations of the 
army, as speedily established his fame, and laid the foundation for his 
future elevation and glory. 

4. In America, the boundaries of the ceded provinces not having 
been justly defined in the treaty of Aix-la-€haj)el!e, the French had 
formed a design of connecting, by a chain of lorts, their two distant 
colonies of Canada and Louisiana, and to confine the English entirely 
within that tract of country which lies between the Alleghany and 
Apalachian mountains and the sea. No part of this design could be 
carried on without manifest encroachment on territories previously, 
either by agreement, settlement, or implication, appropriated to 
others ! Where the boundaries were not precisely defined, all that was 
not English or French, belonged to the native tribes, and the only 
policy that the European colonists had to observe, was to conciliate 
the friendship, or resist the attacks of these ferocious neighbours. But 
the scheme the French had in agitation threatened to be extremely 
injurious to the English colonists ; gi\ ing them, in case of war, a fron- 
tier of fifteen hundred miles to defend, not merely against a race of 
savages, as heretofore, but against savages supported by disciplined 
troops, and conducted by French othccrs. 

5. It was not possible for England long to contemplate these ag- 
gressions and projects without interfering ; but her means of resisting 
thom wore not equal to those by which the French were enabled to 
carry them into execution. The English colonies were notoriously 
divided by distinct views and interests ; had many disagreements and 
differences among themselves, which seemed, for some time at least, 
totally to prevent their acting in concert, however necessary to 
their best interests. The French depended on no such precarious 
supj.ort, but were united both in their object and operations. Hos- 
tilities, however, di<l not actually commence till the year I,755ylrt)ni 
which period the contest in iS'orlh America was carried on with 
various success, between the French and English, severally assisted 
by different tribes of Indians; in the course of which, it is more than 
probable, that sad acts of ciuelty may have been perpetrated, and 
l)ot!i nations have been to blame in some particulars; but it is cer- 
tainly remarkable, that each party stands charged exclmiitlt/ ^vith 
such atrocities by the historians of the adverse side ; and while the 
English writers attribute the whole war to the intrigues and en- 
croaci\nio!its of the French, the latter as confidently ascribe it to the 
cupidity and aggressions of the English. It is very certain, however, 
that, before ttie war actually commencod, the French court maile 
such strong but insincere professions of amity, and a desire of peace, 
as to deceive its own minister at the court of i!^t. James's, M. de 
Jlirepoix, who frit himself so ill-treated in being made the tool of 
such duplicity and di>;simulation, as to cause him to repair to Faris, 
to remonstrate with the administration who had so cajoled him. It 
is necessary to mention these things, where historical truth is the 
great object in view. 

6. At the commencement of this contest between France and 
England, the former seems to have been most successful on land : 



MODERN HISTORY. 283 

but the latter, and to a much greater degree, at sea. Before the 
end of the tirst year ot' the war, no less tiian three hundred French 
merchant vessels, some of them extremely rich, with eight thousand 
sailors, being brought into the English ports ; and while the rate ot" 
insurance in the latter country continued as usual, in France it 
quickly rose to 30 per cent., a pretty strong indication of the com- 
parative inferiority of the latter, as far as regarded her marine, and 
the safety of her navigation. 

7. But it was soon found expedient by one, if not by both parties, 
to divert the attention from colonial to continental objects ; a meas- 
ure which, as in a tbrmer instance, the French writei-s ascribe 
entirely to England, and the English writers as contidentiy to France ; 
but it is sufhcienlly clear that the latler first entertained views ui>oii 
the electorate of Hanover, which gave that turn to the war in gen- 
eral. Considering what had piL^sed in the preceding struggle upon 
the continent, nothing could be more strange than the conduct of the 
dilTerent states of Europe on this particular occa-^ion. Instead of 
receiving assistance from the empress queen, whose cause England 
had so long and so magnanimously supported, and who was bound 
by treaty to contribute her aid in case of attack, Maria Theresa 
evaded the applications made to her by the court of St. James's, 
(perhaps in rather too high and peremptory a tone,) on the pretence 
that the war between I'rance and England had begun in America; 
and she applied herself with peculiar assiduity to recovi*-, through 
the aid of liussia, the provinces of Silesia and Glatz, which liad beeu 
ceded to the Prussian monarch. 

ii. It has been conjectured that her imperi.al majesty had been 
greatly otliMiiled al the preliiu'naries of peace, in 1,7 18, having 
been signed by England without her approbation, and that she was 
capable of carrying her resentment so lar as voluntarily to throw 
herself into the arms of France, without t'urther consideration ; 
while the French king, whose strange course of life had been too 
openly ridiculed bv tlie king of Prussia, foolishly sulTtned himself to 
be cajoled into an alliance with Austria, after three hundred yi^ars of 
warfare, against bis former active and powerlui ally ; thereby break- 
ing through the wise system ot' Richelieu, and helping to raise the 
very power, ol whose greatness France had the most reast)n to be 
jealous; but Maria Theresa, and her minister, prince Kaunil/., to 
produce this great change in the policy of France, had stoopeil to 
flatter and conciliate the king's mistress, the marchioness ol Pom- 
padour. 

9. lorlunately for England, however, the conduct of these two 
courts quickly determined the king of Prussia to form an alliance 
with the elector of Hanover; to stille and forget all former dil lic- 
ences and animosities, anil peremptorily to resist the entrance ol for- 
eign troops into <iermany; a measure whiih, though first directed 
against Russia, sub.-idi/.ed by England, equally applied to Fr.ince. 
vAn alliance b(>t\vecn the kings oi' Great Rnlain and l'ru^sia had long 
"been contemplated by sunie of the ablest statesruf^n of the former 
country, as the most natural and wisest connexion that could be 
' formed to counteract the projects and power of Fnuice. Hitherto 
strong personal jealousies and ill-will on the part of the two sove- 
reigns had preventeil any such union, and now it was brought about 
by accident; much mcu-e, however, to the advantage of Prussia than 
of Great Britain. It bad been proposed in England, to subsi-iize 
Russia, but the ncgolialious of the lornier with the king of I'russia, 



»84 MODERN HISTORY. 

whom the czarina personally disliked, produced a close but unex- 
pected union of Ku.'=.«ia, Austrin, and Fiance ; not so much against 
England, pei haps, as against Prussia, nor yet so much against the 
kingdom ol" Prussia as against the king himself. 
, 10. Such was the comniencement ot «hU has been termed the 
''seven years' war. It sceniod soon to he Ibrgotten that it was origin- 
fflly a maritime" or colonial war. The whole vengeance of France 
and Austria, in 1,757, was directed against the king of Prussia, and 
electorate of Hanover. The Prussian monarch, relying on his wcll- 
organi/.cd army and abundant treasury, despised the powerful com- 
hinalion against him, and commenced the war in a most imposing, 
though precipitate manner, by dispossessing, at the very outset^ the 
king of Poland, elector of Saxony, in alliance with Austria, ol his 
capital, of his whole army, and of his electoral dominions, in a way 
little creditable to his character, notwithstanding the strong political 
motives alleged in his subsequent manifestoes, 'I'he situation of 
France, by litis sudden manoeuvre, was certainly rendered most ex- 
traordinary. At the commencement of the former war, she had 
done her utmost to dethrone Augustus, king of Poland, in liivour of 
Stanislau*, whose daughter had married the French king ; and she 
had now just as strong and urgent a reason to assist in restoring Au- 
gustus to his herciiitaiy dominiotis, the daughter ot the latter being 
married to the dau|iliiri, and the lite of the dauphincss having been 
endaiigertd by the intelligence received ol the rigorous treatment of 
her royal parent'^. •> 

11. It was during the seven years' war, that FrederiQ/Of Prussia 
acquired that glory in the lield whirh has rendered his reign so 
conspictious and remarkable. The i, itendcd victim, as he had great 
reason to suppose, of an overwhelming confederacy of crowned 
heads, he lost no lime in deliending himself against their attacks, by 
occupying the territories of those who ihieaiened hin», so suddenly 
and arMlrarily indeed, with regard to Saxony, as to give ofli'nce to 
the greater part of Europe; but generally conter.ding with surprising 
success against superior armies, though incessantly summoned from one 
(ield ol' battle to another, by the inneeious and di\idod attacks of his 
opponents: nor was li.ereone of all the i>o\vers that menaced him, 
ivhoin he did not find means to humble, and in some instances punish 
most severely, at first, Avithan in4;etuosity bordering upon ra-lmess; 
afterwards, by more wary and circumspect proceedings. In Mlesia, 
Saxony, Hrandenbourg, Hanover, and \Sestpbalia, he had to contend 
with tiie armies of the empire, Austria, Russia, Sweden, France, and 
Saxony : 20U,OUO>-!en are supposed to have fallen aniuiallv in these 
campaigns. Though often worstetl, (as must be the case, wlrere no 
consideration of superior numbers is allowed to operate as a check,) his 
great genius was never more manifosteil, than in the quick reparation 
of such reverses. Ot'ten did his situation appear perlectly desperate, 
both to friends and enemies, yet as ofltn dii! he suddenly succeed in 
some new efiort, and in extricating himself from disasters which 
threatened entirely to overwhelm liim; being all the while under 
the ban of the empire, in virtue of a decree of the aulic council, 
which bound every German circle, in obedience to the imperial 
orders, to assist iti depriving liini of his possessions, dignities, and 
prerogatives. The raj idity of his motions was bev« iid all example ; 
neither danger nor misfortune could dishearten 'him ; and had his 
moderaaon been l)ut eqe.al to bis courage, had he, in all cases, been 
as humane as he was brave, his militajy character would have 



MODERN HISTORY. 285 

etuod higher, perhaps, than that of any other commander, ancient or 
modem. 

12. The army, it must be acknowledged, for some time afforded 
hut little as-sisUuice to, if it did not actually embarrass, the operations 
of Frederic. A formidable force of 33,000 Hanoverian, Hessian, 
•and other troops, under the command of the duke of Cumberland, 
had, in a most extraordinary manner, been reduced, though neither 
beaten nor actually disarmed, to a state of inactivity, ami the king's 
German dominions abandoned to the enemy, by a convention the 
most singular upon the records of histoiT ; and if actually necessary, 
only rendered so by the impolitic movements of the commander-in- 
chief, who, instead of endeavouring to join the Prussians, alfer a 
sharp contest, in which the Frencli had the advantage, retreated in a 
totally different direction, merely to keep up, as it has been supposed, 
a con)munication with the place to which the archives and D)ost 
valuable effects of Hanover had been removed. 

l.'j. This convention, indeed, signed at Cl«ister-seven, September 
y, 1,757, was said to liave been concluded agninst the wishes of the 
royal commander hiniself, and entirely at the instance and requisition 
of the regency of Hanover. Be this, however, as it may, it was un- 
doubtedly almost fatal to the king of Prussiii, and exceedingly 
humiliating to England, though ultimately attended with this good 
effect, that it seems to have roused ;uid stimulated both the people 
and government to greater exertions. Unfortunately much of this 
good spirit and renewed activity was wasted in fruitless attempts on 
the coast of France, which cost the nation much money, and, as it 
turned out contributed little or nothing to her glory and advantlgc ; 
the demolition of the works at Cherburg, and capture of Belle Isle, 
1,761, which was of use afler-.vards, as an exchange for -Minorca, 
being all she had to boast of To her great and iuilefaligaltle ally, 
the king of Prus«ia, these expeditions to the French coast could he 
of no use, except in diverting a part at least of the French forces- 
which might otherwise ha\e been opposed to him ; but they had 
scarcely lliis etVect, and though that great minister, I\lr. Pitt, after- 
wards lord Chatham, appears to have been the chief promoter of 
these measures, in opposition to many membei-s of the British 
cabinet, the policy of tlu'm,even had they been more successful, h;]* 
been pretty generally questioned. Her soldiers, many thought, were 
j)rincipally wanting in (lerniany, the grand theatre of military opera- 
tions, to strengthen and give ctiect to the judicious and bold measures 
of prince Ferdinand, who, being, by the ad\ice, it is said, of the 
Prussian monarch, on the retirement of the duke of Cumberlaiid, 
after the convention spoken of, placed at the head of the allied 
army, had succeeded in compelling the French to evacuate H. mover, 
Brunswick, and Bremen. England indeed had been liberal in her 
subsidies, ever> to a degree that some thought unwise ami extrava- 
gant, and she had been successful in America, Asiu, Africa, and gen- 
erally on the oceiin. The French navy indeed, was ilmostaimihilat- 
ed ; and her colonies, both in the east and west, had fallen a jirey to 
the English armies ; even Canada, the source and focus, as it were, of 
the tra'.isiillantic disputes between llngl.aid and Fnmce, was complete- 
ly subdued by the armies under th(^ command of Wolfe, Townshend, 
Monckton, IMurray, and Amherst, who displayed such zeal, valour, 
and abilities, in the capture ot the towns ot ^.uebec and ]\Iontreal, as 
have never been exceeded. 

^4. Though prince Ferdinand had driven the French hack, it waa 



286 MODERN HISTORY. 

doubted whether the forces under his command would be sufficient 
to maintain these advantages ; apprehensions, indeed, were entertain- 
ed, that he might be reduced lolorm another convention as huniihat- 
ing as that of Closter-seven. But the genius and valour of this 
great prince surmounted the dif >^'^ihies in which he seemed to be 

Placed, by most judiciously, and with no small art, compelling the 
'rench to come to an eng;;g(!ment, under circumstances pecuiiarlv 
favourable to the allied army; and the battle of Minden, which took 
place August 1, 1,759, thouj^h the subject afterwards of much jealousy 
amongst the allies, effectually relieved the electorate of Hanover, and 
the greater part of Westphalia, from the presence of the French. 

15. It was at this period, August 10, 1,759, that Ferdinand VI., 
of Spain, died, and was succeeded by his brother, don Carlos, king 
of the two Sicilies, under the title of Charles III., in consequence 
of which succession, and according to the terms of the treaty of 
Aix-la-Chapellc, don Philip should have surrendered the duchies of 
Farma, Placentia, and Guastalla to Austria anil Sardinia, and remov- 
ed to Naples, (see Sect. \\ § 5;) but as Charles III. had never acced- 
ed to thai treaty, he left the crown of the two Sicilies to his third son, 
Ferdinand, and don Philip agreed, and was allowed by Austria, to 
retain the three duchies; the courts of France and Spain having 
managed to quiet the alarms of Sardinia, in regard to the reversion 
of Placentia. 

16. The removal of don Carlos to Spain, at a time when so many- 
advantages had been gained over the French by the English, at sea 
and in America, justly alarmed the new monarch for his own colonies 
and ?;ettlements in those parts ; and these apprehensions soon became 
a reason for his entering into a Jamily coinjmct with France, which 
had been attempted before, but'frustraled'by the care and vigilance 
of the British minister. It was in iact eiijirely arranged and con- 
cluded in the mouth of August, 1,761, and .extended to all the Bwr- 
bon princes ; it was a treaty oi" mutual and re"ciprbcal naturalization, 
and equality of rights, to" the subjects of all the Bourbon states. 
France, Spdin, the t-ji-o Sicilies, Parma, and Placentia, with a general 
guarantee of each other's doiniiiioiis, under all possible circumstances 
except one, which was, that Spain should be excused from interfering 
in any quarrels of France, aiising out of the treaty of Westphalia, 
unless some maritime power should take part in such disputes, or 
France be invaded. 

17. The above clause in the treaty vvas judged to be so evidently 
aimed at England, as to justify an immediate declaration of war 
against Spain on the part of the former, which accordingly took 
])lace early in the year 1,762 ; nor was Spain backward in follovying 
the example against England, in resentment, as it was alleged, of the 
supercilious and arbitrary manner, in which the latter had interfered 
with regai'd to the family compiict. 

18. The lirst fruits of tliis extraordinary confederacy were a gross 
attempt upon the independency of Portugal, as an ally of England, 
by France and Spain ; an attempt the most appalling to Portugal, 
had not her brave and honourable sovereign resolved rather to per- 
ish than to submit to the terms dictated to him by the combined mon- 
archs. England was in every way bound to give aid and support to 
her ancient and faithful ally, on so trying an occasion ; and, fortunately, 
her help came so opportunely and so promptly, as to enable the 
king ol" Portugal to repel the Spaniards, who hail not only passed the 
irontiers, but actually taken several towns. Thus was that monarch 



MODERN HISTORY. 287 

and his dominions saved from the effects of as wicked and arbitrary 
a design as was ever entertained against an independent or neutral 

{)otentate, and that on the sole ground of his connexion with Eng- 
and at the moment ; to whose resentment he would of course have 
been exposed, had he tamely submitted to the tyrannical demands of 
France and Spain. In either case, he seemed to be threatened with 
ruin and destruction, had things taken a different turn, from what 
actually came to pass. 

19. The hostilities into which Great Britain was driven by this 
unprovoked attack upon Portugal, as well as by the threatening 
aspect and spirit of the family compact^ which seemed lo undo all 
that had been accomplished by the succession war, were in every 
instance crowned with success ; so that in both hemispheres, her arms 
may be said to have been victorious, and her triiimpli complete ; and 
Spain had great cause to rue her short concern in the' war, into 
which she had been cajoled by Franco, and which operated as fully 
to the disappointment of the latter power. In the mean while, the 
king of Prussia, who had been brought to the very verge of ruin, 
according to his own statement and confession, was most unexpect- 
edly relieved by surprising changes in the Russian councils, through 
the demise of Elizabeth, and accession of Peter III., whose reign in- 
deed was too short to enable him to render any real assistance to 
the king of Prussia, in the field, which might have been expected 
from the enthusiastic admiration with which his actions were beheld 
by the Russian monarch. But this weak, though benign prince, in 
consequence of his too extensive plans of reform, and a difference 
with bis empress, was soon removed ; and though his successor and 
consort, Catherine the second, did not by any means pay the same 
court to Frederic, yet her opposition to him was very slight, and 
soon terminated by a treaty of peace, iu which she was followed by- 
Sweden. 

20. All these things evidently tended towards a general peace, if 
England, who had certainly been the most successful of all the pow- 
ers concerned, could be brought to consent to be stopped in her 
career of victory and triumph. A change of ministry had, however, 
laid the foundation for such measures. J\lr. Pitt, vvho was lor the 
continuance of the war, on some private information, as it has been 
thought, of the progress and terms of the family compact, had re- 
signed soon after the demise of the king, George II. ; and lord Bute, 
who owed his place and power as minister, much more to the per- 
sonal good-will and attachment of the now king, than to the voice 
and favour of the people, foreseeing that it might be ditlicult ibr 
him to raise either money or men for the prosecution of the war. 
(bounties for recruits, in particular, having risen to an imexampled 
height,) and having against him many important individuals of both 

Earli?s, entered freely into negotiations with France, which were 
rought to an issue by the peace of Paris, (or Fontainebleau,) 1,7G3. 

21. This treaty was not popular in England, though, undoubtedly, 
she reaped the benefit of many remarkable concessions, particularly 
in America, where she acquiredj not only the whole province of 
Canada, but part of Louisiana ; tne junction of which two distant 
French settlements, to the embarrassment, and possibly, total sul.jec- 
tion of the English colonies, had been the express occasion of the 
war ; but by many persons it was thought, and perhaps with great 
reason, that England had surrendered too much, considering tlie 
high situation in which she stood, and the advantages that might 



288 MODERN J^ISTORY. 

have been reaped by a little longer continuance of the war ; and in 
what she both surrefulered and retained, an ill and impoHtic selec- 
tion, it was alleged, had been made of posts and settlements. The 
treaty of Hnbertsburg, by which the war was terminated between 
Austria and Prussia in the same year, 1,7G3, restored matters, in re- 
gard to those two powers, exactly to their former state, after sevex 
most destructive and expensive campaigns ! Nothing of territory 
was lost and nothing gained by either party. England, undoubtedly, 
was left in the bignest state of prosperity at the conclusion of these 
two treaties. Her navy unimpared, or rather augmented at the ex- 
pense of the navy of France ; her commerce extending from one 
extremity of the globe to the oilier, with an accession of important 
settlements ceded to her by France in Asia, Africa, and America. 



SECTION VII. 

FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III. 1,760, TO THE COM- 
MENCEMENT OF THE DISPUTES \MTH AMERICA, 1,764. 

1. Thougit a new enemy, for a very short time, was added to the 
list of those who were contending vvith England and her allies, 
when George the second died, by the accession of Spain to the 
family comjxtct, and continental confe;icmcy, in 1,761, yet (he seven 
years' war, through the exhaustion of the allies of Austria, par- 
ticularly the Saxons, Poles, and French, may be said to have been 
drawing to a conclusion, when George 111. ;iscej»ded the throne of 
Great Britain, on the demise of his grandfatiier, October 25, 1,760^ 
For the termination of that warj see Sect. V'l. 

"2. Much notice was taken oi a passage in the king's first speech 
to his parliament, in which he expressed the glory he felt in having 
been born and educated in Britain ; imd thouglisome have pretended 
to see in it, a reflection on his royal predeccssms, yet it was surely 
wise in the first sovereign of the house of Hanover, who stood clear 
of foreign manners, and foreign partialities, so to bespeak the love 
and attachment of his subjects. It is true, indeed, that England had 
prospered in no common degree from the fust accession of that 
illustrious family, but it cannot be denied, that a distaste of foreign 
manners, as Avell as a jealousy of foreign partialities, bad occasionally 
interrupted the proceedings of government, and were at all events 
calculated to keep up, in the minds of the disaffected, a remembrance 
of the breach that had been made in the succession to the thi'one. 
Fourteen years having passed since any attempt had l.'ecn made to 
restore the Stuart family, and the condition ot thirt family having 
become such, as to render any further endeavours to that effect, ex- 
tremely improbable, nothing more seemed wanting to remove all 
remaining prejudices against the Brunswick line of princes, than 
that tlic sovereign should be a native of the huid he nded. 

3. In addition to this tie upon his subjects, every thing seemed to 
cons})ire, as far as regarded the character, manners, and disposition 
of (he young king, to secure to him the attachment of his people ; 
and to give hopes of a quiet and tranquil reign. One of the very 
first acts of which was calculated to impress the idea of his being a 
true friend to the liberty of the subject, by rendering the judges 
independent of the crown. His majesty was married, soon after his 
accession, to the princess Charlotte of JMecklenburgh Strelitz, with 



MODERN HISTORY. 289 

whom he was crowned at Westminster, on the 22d day of Septem- 
ber, 1,761. 

4. However promising the appearances both of external and in- 
ternal tranquillity might be, at the commencement of the new 
reign, it was not long before the nation became agitated by party 
disputes and differences, of no small importance. In 1,762, a ques- 
tion arose, which though it led to very distressing tumults, terminat- 
ed in the relief of the subject from an arbitrary process, exceedingly 
repugnant to the spirit of the constitution, and the great charter of 
British liberty. General warrants, and the seizure of private papers 
williout sufhcient necessity, the legality of which had been disputed, 
in the case of Mr. Wilkes, member for Ailesbury, during which that 
gentlemen displayed considerable fortitude, though certainly with 
great failure of respect towards the crown, were declared to be 
illegal by a solemn tfecree of parliament, 1,765, nor has any attempt 
been since made to reinvest the government with so dangierous and 
formidable a power. The question of general warninls, however, 
was not the only one in which Mr. Wilkes appeared as the champion 
of the people's liberties. Being elected for Middlesex, after having 
been expelled the house, he claimed his seat, in defiance oi the res- 
olutions of parliament, but was not allowed to sit. Five years after- 
wards, he was permitted again to enter the house of commons ; but 
in this instance the parliament maintained its i-ower of declaring a 
particular individual disqualified, against the decision of a majority 
of electoi-s ; a curious point as affecting the constitution, and the 
elective iVanchise. 

5. Though the courts of Vienna, France, and Prussia, had cause to 
be tired of the war, in which they had been engaged since the year 
1,755, it is certain that England was in a state to continue it, especial- 
ly by sea, when the ireaty of Paris, or Fontainebleau, was concluded, 
in 1,763. As long as Mr. Pitt continued a member of administration, 
the war had been carried on vigorously, and had become exceeding- 
ly popular, so that on the resignation of that great minister, in 1,761, 
and the appointment of lord Bute, whose distrust of his own abilities 
to continue it, disposed him to listen to the overtures of France, 
great discontents arose. The minister was suspected of harbouring 
in his breast the most despotic principles, and of having inculcated 
the same into the mind of his sovereign, while yet a youth. He 
was supposed to possess too exclusive an influence in that quarter ; 
and though, in private life, a most respectable nobleman, of great 
worth and probity, learning, and talents, his public measures were 
the continual theme of obloquy and abuse. Had Mr. Pitt continued 
in oflice, it is more than probable that the allies might have gained 
greater advantages on the continent, and the Spaniards been more 
severely punished for their interference ; so that the pacific meas- 
ures of the new minister, drew upon him the displeasure, if not the 
contempt, as well of his own countrymen, as of the king of Prussia 
also; who in his writings has inveighed greatly against the prevail- 
ing influence of the noble earl at this period, in the cabinet and coun- 
cils of Great Britain. 

6. The riots and tumulta excited by the proceedings against Mr. 
Wilkes, and the extreme unpopularity of lord Bute, contributed to 
render the first years of the reign of George 111. exceedingly unqui- 
et, and to involve his majesty in many unpleasant difliculties, from 
the addresses, petitions, and remonstrances, which flowed in upon 
him, often couched in such language as it was impossible not to re- 

Bb 37 



290 MODERN HISTORY. 

sent, and as often insinuating what, perhaps, was not founded on 
truth : for it has never yet been clearly ascertained that the public 
actually suffered from any improper secret influence, or that the 
measures of lord Bute, with regard to the peace of Paris, all things 
considered, were impolitic or unwise. 1 he worst feature in this 
peace, with regard to England, seems to have been, the failure to 
guard against the effects, in future, of the family compact^ which 
was left in full force. Mr. Pitt had his eye constantly upon this, and, 
had he continued in power, would, no doubt, have continued the 
war with spirit and perseverance : this great minister had retired 
undisgraced; he received a pension indeed for himself, and a peer- 
age for his lady. His politics, to the day of his death, continued 
widely different from those of lord Bute, and were constantly more 
popular : but the great fault of the latter seems to have been, that 
he engaged in public business, contrary to the bent of his own dispo- 
sition, and was too sensible of his unpopularity, to undertake any 
measure that required much public support. All he did, therefore, 
seemed to be managed in the way of private influence, cabal, and 
intrigue. 

7. In addition to the addresses and remonstrances alluded to in the 
foregoing section, the popular fervour and agitation received consid- 
erable encouragement from the letters of an anonymous writer, 
never yet discovered, — a writer who displayed such an extraordi- 
nary knowledge of the proceedings of the court and cabinet, and 
had the power of expressing himself in a style so vigorous, striking, 
and keenly satirical, as to demand the attention of all parties, and 
confound the majority of those whom he personally attacked. But 
the extreme severity of a concealed and unknown accuser, and the 
gross personalities in which he often indulged, not sparing majesty 
itself, threw a cloud over his writings, which can never be done 
away, to the satisfaction of any candid or liberal mind. Though the 
mention of these celebrated letters is rather anticipated in this place, 
as they did not publicly appear till the year 1,769, yet, as they par- 
ticularly relate to the foregoing transactions, and state of aliiurs in 
the early years of the reign of George III., and long preceded the 
actual commencement of the war with America, the first authors of 
\vhich he seemed disposed to screen, a better opportunity of intro- 
ducing the subject might scarcely be found. The many fruitless, but 
very curious attempts that have been made, at various times, to dis- 
cover the real author, have contributed, in addition to the extraordi- 
nary character of the work itself", and the political questions discuss- 
ed in it, to prevent its ever sinking into oblivion. The letters of 
Junius, with all their blemishes, will probably never fail to find a 
place in the libraries of the British scholar, and British statesman. 

8. In the prosecution of this work, it should also be noticed, that a 
great constitutional point came under discussion, namely, whether, 
in cases of libel, the jury were judges of the law, as well as of the 
fact. In most other cases, no such difficulty seemed to occur. In 
cases of murder, not only the act of killing, but the murderous in- 
tent, was submitted to the decision of the jury ; and in trials for felony 
of every description, the course was the same. Lord Mansfield, ia 
this case, insisted that the jury had only to decide on the fact of 

f)ublication, and that the court was to determine upon the law of 
ibel. This has generally been disputed by juries ; and they have 
found ways of evading the difficulty, by eitiier themselves referring 
the law to the judge, by a special verdict, or by pronouncing a gen- 



MODERK HISTORY. 291 

j| eral acquittal. Unfortunately, libels are of that description as con- 
stantly to excite those jealousies and suspicions, from which every 
court of iustice should be free. They afiect, also, two of the high- 
est privileges of Englishmen, — the right of private judgment, and 
the liberty of the press. In the case of Junius, the point in dispute 
was by no means so settled as to obviate future difierences. 

9. The year 1,764 is memorable for the commencement of the 
dispute between Great Britain and her American colonies ; but as 
the history of this contest involves many curious questions of policy; 
as its results, in regard not only to Engleind and America, but to the 
world in general, were very important ; and its termination led to a 
total separation of the colonies from the mother country, thereby 
establishing a distinct state and government of European settlers in 
the western hemisphere, the details of it will be reserved for another 
section. 



SECTION VIII. 

DISPUTES BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND HER AMERICAN 
COLONIES. 1,764—1,783. 

1 . The seven years' war, terminated by the peace of Paris, or Fon- 
tainebleau^ in 1,703, had been begun in Jlrnenccu, as has been shoun. 
(Sect. VI.) Great Britain, at considerable expense of men and 
money, had resisted the encroachments of France on the British 
colonies, and thereby afforded to the latter, protection, perhaps be- 
yond what any commercial benefits, under the colonial system, 
could be said fully to compensate. A question therefore arose, 
whether the colonies might not be called upon to contribute, by di- 
rect taxation, to the relief of the general expenses and burthens of 
the mother country. The national debt, it was argued bv the British 
government, ivas the debt of every individual in the whole empire, 
whether in Asia, America, or nearer home. 

2. The question, however, was no sooner started than decided 
by administration ; chietly through the influence and on the sugges- 
tion of Mr. George Grenville, then prime-minister, who, in the very 
year succeeding the peace of Paris, procured the slamp-act to be 
p.issed, i>y which the Americans were directly subjected to a tax 
imposed by the British parliament, without their own consent, not 
immediately applicable to their own wants or necessities, and contrary 
to every former mode of raising money ibr such purposes. This 
was certainly sufficient to excite alarm, and lead to questions of pol- 
icy and prudence ; of power and right ; of legislation aud represen- 
tation ; never yet so thoroughly discussed or investigated. Hitherto, 
without questioning the power, government had forborne from 
taxing them as a matter of policy and propriety ; and thus, as it 
was well said at the time, those two very difficult points, superiority 
in the presiding state, and freedom in the subordinate, had been prac- 
tically reconciled. 

3. The situation of America rendered these questions the more 
important and alarming to the mother country, in case of opposition, 
as having been originally peopled from Europe, in a great measure. 
by refugees^ exiles, and persons adverse to the goverimients, which 
taej had lell, both in church and state, and well inclined, probably, to 



292 MODERN HISTORY. 

assert a republican independence. Their legislative assemblies were 
already of the popular cast, and their feelings and spirits accordant. 
It must also be admitted, that upon the very ground of pecuniary or 
other aids, they had much to allege in respect of their benehcial 
returns to England, in taking her manufactures, and having assisted 
her in the conquest of Canada. Most unfortunatel3^', the very grants 
which had been made by their assemblies, in aid of England, during 
the last war, were alleged as an argument (a most irritating one, un- 
doubtedly,) of their ability to pay any imposts the parliament might 
choose to lay upon them. 

4. As the ministry had decided hastily upon the general question, 
they seem also to have suffered themselves to be precipitated into 
some of tlie woi"st measures they could have adopted to render their 
novel demands palatable. Their very iirst tax, imposed by the 
stamp act of 1,764, though simple in its principle, was ill-suited to 
the state of America. The mere distribution of the stamps, through 
such a variety of different states, involved in it a thousand dithculties; 
and there wei'e provisions in the act itself^ which might, if at all 
abused or neglected, have subjected the people to unheard of vexa- 
tions and oppressions. It is scarcely, thereiore, to be wondered that, 
on its first promulgation in America, the act should have been re- 
ceived with the greatest indignation, and even with detlance. 

5. In the mean time, the cause of the Americans was espoused 
by a strong party at home, a party, so far from being contemptible, 
as to include some of the tirst persons of the nation, both in rank and 
importance. The debates in both houses were violent, but the topics 
discussed, in every point of view, interesting. The friends of the 
Americans, if it may be proper now to call ihem so, obtained and 
swayed, for a very short period, the helm of government. In June, 
1,765, the Grenville administration was dismissed, and a new one, at 
the head of which was placed the marquis of Rockingham, came 
into power, through the mediation of the duke of Cumberland. 
They continued in office, however, for little more than, one year; 
but in that short space of time, the stamp-act, which had been so ill 
received in America, was formally repealed. 

6. But the grand question relatmg to the right of taxation was 
by no means determined by this measure : a declaratory act was 
particularly passed at the same time, for maintaining the constitu- 
tional authority of Great Britian, in "all cases whatsoever;" and 
though there was certainly no design, in those who promoted the 
repeal, to act upon this authority, by establishing any other tax of 
a similar kind, yet the colonists were prepared, as much as ever, 
to dispute the principle, as far as it regarded taxation ; and their 
courage and confidence at this time stood high, in consequence of 
the importance which had been given to them in the last war, and 
their emancipation from all dread of the t rench and Spaniards, by 
the cession of Canada and the Eloridas. In the colony of Virginia 
the right of taxation was voted to rest entirely in the king, or his 
representative, and the general assembly of the colony. This was, 
undoubtedly, the usual course of things; and in this way subsidies to 
a considerable amount had been granted to the crown. This prece- 
dent was soon followed by others of the legislative bodies, and 
adoptpd in the general congress of New York, 1,765. 

'i. It wiis not pietendeii that the Americans paid no taxes; but a 
di'Unciion wiis now set up, which there had been no occasion to 
insifit upon belbre. To external taxation, through the operatioa of 



MODERN HISTORY. 293 

laws of trade and navigation, enacted in the mother country, they 
were willing to yield submission ; they had constantly done so, nor 
were they now disposed to resist suck enactments; but all inter- 
nal duties for raising a revenue, or supporting establishments, were 
held to be very ditierently circumstanced. Taxes of this nature 
were considered as being, in the very language of parliament itsell^ 
gifls^ and erants. JNone, therefore, it was urged, could give the 
money of America but the people of America tiiemselves. If they 
chose to make such grants, they might receive a legislative sanction, as 
in England ; but legislation and taxation were distinct things. Tax- 
ation, according to the spirit of the English constitution, implying 
consent, direct or by representation, could not otherwise be rendered 
either legal or just. Local circumstances would render the rejpre- 
seutation of America, in the British parliament, impracticable ; 
and a supposed virtual representation was no less than mockery. 
The representatives of England, in taxing othei-s, taxed themselves 
also ; but this could not be the caso in regard to American imposts. 

8. Such were some of the strongest reasons urg?d against the 
measure in general; but, as the right of taxation had not been ex- 
pressly given up by any part in England, but rather insisted upon in the 
declaratory act, no concession short of this seemed likely to do good. 
The stamp-act had caused an irritation, which no qualified repeal 
could allay : internal taxation was not only resisted as an encroachment 
on established rights and usages, but, in resentment of such wrongs, 
attempts were made to hinder the further operation even of exter- 
nal taxation. Non-importation, and non-consumption agreements 
were soon entered into, and associations formed to methodise and 
consolidate the opposition to government. A resolution had been 
passed when lord North was minister, promising to desist from all 
taxation, except commercial imposts, whenever any one ot the 
colonial assemblies should vote a reasonable sum, as a revenue, to be 
appropriated by parliament; but this had no good effect. 

9. In so embarrassed a state of tilings, it is not very surprising 
that the ministry at home should have entertained wrong measures, 
and miscalculated the effects of the plans they were pursuing. 
The truth of history tends to show that, however they might be 
embarrassed by an active opposition in parliament, that opposition 
fairly tbrewarned lliem of the consequences of their meditated pro 
ceedings, which came to pass exactly as they had been toretold. 
But after this demand had once provoked the qu-stion of right, and 
that question had divided the people of botli countries into two strong 
parties, things soon fell into that state, in which it became impossible 
to restore affairs to their orii;inal condition, either by perseverance 
or concession. Every effort of coercion was resented iis an illegal 
encroachment; every conciliatory proposition received as a proof 
of alarm and timidity, and as a pledge of victory and success to fa 
ture opposition. 

10. It has been questioned whether independence was not in the 
view of the Americans from the very first stirring of the question, 
or even previously ; but had this been the case, they would have 
been more prepared ; their addresses to the king and parliament, on 
various occasions, after the commencement of the dispute, must have 
been fallacious to the higliest pilch of dissimulation, if they had de- 
termined against all compromise from the very beginning ;: but^ in- 
deed, the remonstrances and complaints of General Washington, on 
the ill state of his army, and total w ant of many essential reuuisiteg., 

Bb2 ^ - 



294 MODERN HISTORY. 

on first taking the command, seem clearly to prove that they were 
driven to assert their independence by the course of things; a large 
portion of their fellow-subjects and countrymen on both sides of the 
Atlantic, judged them to be oppressed, and thus gave a character to 
llieir opposition which could not very creditably be forfeitotl. Upon 
the whole it may be considered probable that some of the most 
prominent and actiA'e leaders of the revolution had very early con- 
ceivetl the design of establishing the independence of their country ; 
but that th(i mass of the people in the colonies, had no such inten- 
tion until after their first successes. 

1 1. Hostilities did not actually commence till the year 1,773, \en 
years from the first passing of the stamp-act. In a short time after 
the passing of that act, it was repealed, as has been stated ; but in 
1,767 the projoct of taxing America was revived by Mr. Charles 
Tovvnshend, and from that periofi to the commencement of the war, 
both countries were in a state of the greatest agitation. Debates 
ran high at home, and in America their gravest proceedings were ac- 
companied wi;-i such threats of defiance, and such indignant resent- 
ment of all innovations, as almost necessarily to bring them under the 
strong hand of power. But government underrated their means of 
resistance; when brought info a state of union, by the congress, 
their force was no longer to be despised ; all temporizing expedients 
were at an end, a circumstance ill understood by the ministry at 
liome, who lost much lime in endeavouring to retrieve matters, by 
fruitless attempts, sometimes in the way of conciliation, anci at 
others, of inefficient resistance. Thus, when in 1,770 many com- 
mercial duties were taken off, which the mother country had an un- 
doubted right to impose, the concession was ill received, in conse- 
quence of the single exception of ica, which was continued in order 
to assert the rights and supremacy of Great Britain ; but this was 
done in a manner too imperious, and without suflicient force to subdue 
the resentment it was calculated to excite, at such a moment. At 
the very breaking out of the war, ministers appear to have been by 
far too confident of speedily suppressing so formidable an insurrec- 
tion ; an insurrection ^vhich had had time allowed it to organize 
itself, and which had drawn upon it the attention of the whole civ- 
ilized Avorld. 

12. The war may be said to have actually commenced only on 
the 14th of April, 1,775, though some English regiments had been 
sent to Boston so early as the year 1,768. In an aHiiir at Lexington, 
amounling to no more than a skirmish, the English were completely 
worsted, a circumstance calculated to give sjurits to the Americans, 
at a most aufiii and momentous period. General Washington, who 
had distinguished himself in the war against the French, and bore a 
most irreprnachable character, was appointed to take the command 
of the American army; a post of the utmost responsibility, and re- 
quiring talents, temper, and discretion, of no common description. 

13. The sword being drawn, and no hopes remaining of an amica- 
ble adjuslment of differences between the crown and its transatlantic 
sul'jocts, now in a state of open revolt ; and the success of the fii-st 
hostilities having animated the military ardour of the Americans, 
fhey proceeded, by a solemn declaration of the general congress at 
Bhiladelphia, Jvily 4, 1,776, to declare the thirteen provinces inde- 
pendent ; by which act America may be said to have been divided 
from the mother country, 294 years after the discovery of that coun- 
try by Columbus J 166 from the first settlement of \'irginia; and 156 



MODERN HISTORY. £95 

from the settlement of Plymouth in Massachusetts Bay. The Amer- 
ican Congress exercised its important functions with great energy 
and dignity, and the campaign of 1,776 turned out favourably for the 
Americans, and highly to the credit of their very able and brave 
commander. 

14. Whether it were owing to the low opinion entertained by the 
government at home, of the resistance likely to be offered by the 
Americans, or to a dislike of the cause in which they were engaged 
on the part of the British commanders, it is exceedingly certain, that 
the English army did not obtain the advantages it was supposed it 
might have done, or proceed as if it were able speedily to crush the 
rebelUon that had been raised. The American troops were every 
day improving, and every day deriving encouragement, either from 
unexpected successes, or the inactivity of the armies opposed to 
them. On the other hand, the English were either indulging ia 
pleasure, when they should have been in action, or disheartened by 
sudden surprises or repulses, which redounded greatly to the credit 
of their less disciplined, and less organized opponents, lii a short 

, time, however, the war became mure complicated, and opened a 
scene, which not only involved the continent of Europe in the con- 
flict of the day, but probably led to changes and convulsions, as ex- 
traordinary and as extensive as ever the world experienced. 

15. In the month of November, 1,776, the celebrated Dr. Franklin 
and Silas Deane had been despatched by congress, to sohcit, at the 
court of Versailles, the aifl and assistance of French troops. Accord- 
ing to the former coarse of things, nothing could be more strange 
than such an application, at such a court ; an application from rebel- 
lious subjects, from the assertors of republican independence, to a 
court celebrated tor the most refined despotism, and ruling a people, 
heretofore the grossest admirers and flatterers of regal power ; an 
application from persons of the simplest habits ; frugal, temperate, 
industrious, and little advanced in civilization, to a court immersed in 

f)leasure, gay, and dissipated, profligate and corrupt, civilized to the 
lighest pitch of courtly retinement, of polished manners, and of 
splendid luxury : lastly, an application from a people who had car- 
ried their <lissent from the church of Rome farther than any protes- 
tants in Europe, to a court still subject to the papal see, a cherished 
branch of the catholic church. 

16. Extraordinary, however, in all respects, as this American mis- 
sion seems to have been, it met with a cordial and favourable recep- 
tion. Even the queen of France was found to espouse the cause of 
the revolted subjecLs of Great Britain, iiltle foreseeing the handle 
she was giving to many keen observers of her own courtly extrava- 
gance and thou;^litless dissipation. The die was soon cast ; a ibrmal 
treaty was entered into, acknowledging the independency of Amer- 
ica ; succour anrl support to a large extent promised, and ollicers ap- 
pointed to conduct the French forces, likely, it would seem, above 
all others, to imbibe the spirit of fi-eedom, which animated the 
Americans, and to espouse their cause upon principle. They were 
all nol)ie, indeed ; but in America they were sure to be taught how 
vain were such distinctions, if not supported by public opinion. 

17. The English government was not formerly apprised of this 
unexpected alliance, till the year 1,778, when it received a very 
curious and insuhing nolilication of it from tiie French ambassador. 
It does not appear that the aid thus obtained by the American mis- 
sion, was altogether grateful to the Americans themselves, though it 



296 MODERN HISTORY. 

had the full effect of raising up new and powerful enemies against 
tlie mother country, and involving Europe in their cause ; for, 
thi'ough the French influence, in the year 1,779, Spain joined the 
confederacy against England, and, in 1,780, Holland. In the mean 
while commissioners had heeu sent from England to America, to 
treat for peace, but the Americans, insisting on the previous ac- 
knowledgment of their independency, rendered their attempts fruit- 
less. 

18 Whatever loss of fame, reputation, and territory Great Britain 
uicurred in America, her arms never shone with greater lustre tium 
on some occasions in which she vvas engaged during this war, with 
the confederate powers of Europe ; in Asia particularly, she was 
acquiring an empire ten times gi'eater in wealth and population, than 
alt she had to lose in the west : but of all her achievements at this 
period, none, perhaps, was so conspicuous, none su glorious, as the 
defence of Gibraltar under General Elliot, afterwards lord Healh- 
field, against the combined forces of Spain and France. The irrepa- 
rations made to recover that important fortress for Spain, exceeded 
every thing before known. The ultimate success of the atten)pt 
was calculated upon as so certain, that some of the French princes 
of the blood, repaired to the Spanish camp merely to witness its sur- 
render. But the heroism of the troops in garrison baffled all their 
designs, and the timely arrival of the British fleet completed the 
triumph, in October, 1,782. The siege (begun in 1,779) was entire- 
ly abandoned, with the loss of all the Spanish floating batteries, and 
the deieatof the combined fleets of France and Spain, by lord Howe. 
This action took place on the 20th of October; in the following 
montli provisional articles of peace were signed at Paris, by British 
and American commissioners, and early in the ensuing year a treaty 
concluded at Versailles, between Great Britain, France, and Spain, 
to which, in February, Holland also acceded. 

19. Towards the close of the war, many important discussions in 
parliament took jilace on the Anierican affaii-s, in which it was 
found, that those who had most espoused her cause, on the question 
of internal taxation, and most objected to the measures of administra- 
tion in the conduct of the war, ditiered, at the last, from each other, 
on the question of American independence ; a difference rendered 
peculiarly memorable, as being the subject of the last speech and 
appearance in parliament of that illustrious statesman, the earl of 
Chatham. On April 7, 1,778, though labouring under a severe tit of 
illness, he appeared in his place, in the house of lords, and delivered 
a most animated and energetic speech, in which he strongly protest- 
ed aganist the surrender of the sovereignty of Great Britain over 
her colonies ; soon alter, rising to reply to the Duke of Richmond, 
he fell back on the seat in a fainting flt, and in a few days expired, 
at his seat in Kent. In four years from this event, Great Britain was 
compelled, to yield upon this great point, and, by the peace of Ver- 
sailles, ralifled and concluded September 3, 1,783, the thirteen United 
ohnies ()f America were admitted to be '•'• Frec^ Sovereign^ and indepen- 
dent Stalest 



MODERN HISTORY. 297 



SECTION IX. 

FRANCE, FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS, 1,763, TO THE 
OPENING OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE STATES GENERAL, 
1,789. 

1. For the affairs of France, from the death of Lewis XIV., to 
the peace of Vienna, 1,738, (see Sect. I.) In the year of 1,740, 
owing to the death of the emperor, Charles VI., Europe was again 
agitated, and France, in espousing the cause of the elector of Bava- 
ria, against the house of Austria, became involved in the war, which 
was terminated by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelie, 1,748, (see Sect 
III.) From the conclusion of the above treaty, to the commence- 
ment of the seven years' war, she enjoyed a state of external peace 
and tranquiUity. But though this short interval of repose from war, 
was applied to the improvement of the kingdom, in no common de- 
gree, both in the capital and provinces, by the establishment of 
schools and hospitals, the erection of public edifices, the building of 
bridges, digging canals, and repairing roads ; in the cultivation and 
improvement of many arts, the extension of commerce, and encour- 
agement of manufactures; of silk, of porcelain, and tapestry, in par- 
ticular; yet amidst all these improvements she enjoyed little of inter- 
nal tranquillity. Religious disputes greatly occupied the attention 
of all ranks of persons, and involved the clergy, the court, the par- 
liaments, and the people, in incessant contests, exceedingly disgrace- 
ful, and, considering the temper of the times, the advancement of 
human knowledge, and the progress of ideas, extremely injudicious. 

2. During the reign of Lewis XIV., a tierce contention. had arisen 
between the Jesuits and Jansenists, on certain obscure points in 
theology, which, after much fruitless argument, much raillery and 
abuse on both sides, through the inlluence of the Jesuits with the 
king, were referred to the decision of the Roman pontiff. One hun- 
dred and one propositions, out of o.ie hundred and three, which were 
said to favour the Jansenists, in a book written by the Fere Qnesnel, 
were, in the year 1,713, declared by the holy otfice to be heretical, 
and consequently condemned in form.* The interposition of his ho- 
liness had little effect, in regard to the resloratiou of peace and tran- 
quillity. The public instrument, by which the s.jnience was passed 
on the Jansenist party, (in the laiigu;ige of liome commonly called 
the bull " Unigemlas,^''' trom the rtrst word with whic!i it begins,) 
became the signal for fresh animosities, murmurs, and compltiats. 
The people, tlie parliament, m.uiy prelates, and others of tiie clergy, 
violently <^xclaimed ag liiist it, as in infringement of the righis of the 
Gallican church, contniiy to the laws, and a violation of the freedom 
of opinion in matters of religion. But the king, acting under the 
same intluence as had induced nim to forward the appeal, ordered it 
to be received, and in a short time afterwards died. The r?gent 
duke of Orleans found means to koe,) things tolerably quiet during 

* The king's confessor, the P. le Tellier, happened to have told (he 
kuig that this boolf contained more than a hundred censurable propositions. 
To save the credit of ilie confessor, the pope condemned a hundred and 
one, and stated the above reason for what he had done, iu express terms, 
to the Freuch ambassador at Rome. 



298 MODERN HISTORY. 

his administration of afiairs, nor did the flame burst out again till the 
year 1,75U, when, through the bigotry of the then archbishop of 
raris, the clergy were encouraged to refuse extreme unction to all 
who should not produce confessional notes, signed by persons who 
adhered to the bull. 

3. It is easy to guess the confusion and deep distress, indeed, 
which so singular and intolerant a measure was likely to produce. 
The cause of the recusants and people in general, was, upon this 
occasion, strongly supported by the parUament of Paris, and other 
parliaments; and as in the preceding struggles the Jansenists had 
been thrown into prison, in this the magistrates made no scruple of 
committing all who refused to administer the sacrament to persons in 
their last moments. The Jesuits had again recourse to the king. 

4. The common course of pi'oceeding, in all disputes and con- 
tentions between the king and his parliaments, had hitherto borne 
the stamp of the most perfect despotism. However bold, or how- 
ever respectful the remonstrances might be on the part of the lat- 
ter, they were not allowed to have the least effect against the de- 
termination of the court. If these judicial bodies became too re- 
fractory, banishment ensued of course, and not the shghtest regard 
was paid to any arguments they might allege, nor any resistance 
they might offer, in support of the liberties oi their fellow subjects. 

5. Things came to the usual crisis on the present occasion. All 
the chambers of parliament refused to register the letteis patent by 
which they were commanded to suspend the prosecutions relative 
to the refusal of the sacraments. In the year 1,763, they were 
banished, and much inconvenience arose from the interruption of 
business, and suspension of justice ; while the clergy, attached to 
the bull, made great boast of the victory they had obtained, and 
endea\ oured continuall5' to strengthen themselves more and more 
against their adversaries. The king often wavered, but was as 
often brought back by the interposition of the pope and obstinate 
perseverance of the Jesuits; in 1,754, however, seizing the opportu- 
nity of the birth of a second son to the dauphin, (the duke of Ber- 
ry, afterwards Lewis XVI.,) he recalled the parhament, but with- 
out effecting peace. The members had been received at Paris 
with loud acclamations, and every demonstration of joy ; tlieir 
conduct h;id rendered ihem popular to an extraordinary degree, so 
that when commanded afresh to register the king's edicts, they 
again refused. This bold act of disobedience subjected them to 
the last extremity of kingly authority. The sovereign repaired 
himself to the hall of parliament, November, 1,756, and in a. bed of 
justice (the term by which such assemblies were peculiarly desig- 
nated,) hnally ordered them to register the edicts in his name, which 
they could no longer, as the constitution then stood, refuse. Many, 
however, resigned their appointments, and much discontent prevailed 
amongst the people. It should be observed, that by this time the 
depositaries of the laws and advocates had begun to depart from 
their usual routine of technical formalities, and, animated by the ex- 
amples set them, to enter largely into the general questions of law 
and liberty, rights and obligations, duty and privilege ; they began, 
in short, systematically to take the part of the oppressed ; they were 
prepared, not only to remonstrate, but to argue, debate, and openly 
to protest against the violation of the rights of the people. 

6. The hand of a fanatic, in the year 1,757, appeared to have 
the effect of altering the king's mind once more. As his majesty 

27 



MODERN HISTORY. 299 

was stepping into his carriage, he was stabbed by an assassin of 
the name of Damiens^ his object being, according to his own confes- 
sion, not to kill, but to alarm his majesty, with a view of producing 
some change in the king's sentiments, that might dispose him to en- 
join the administration of the sacraments to dying persons, without 
the confessional notes insisted upon ; but little reliance is to be placed 
on any declarations of this nature. In this instance they seemed 
not to agree with the conduct of the assassin. That Lewis acted as 
he did soon afterwards, with regard to the points in dispute, in conse- 
quence of this attempt on his life, is by no means certain ; but in a 
short time matters were accommodated with the parliament, and the 
archbishop of Paris, the chief fomenter of the disturbances on the 
part of the clergy, banished. 

7. It may not be unreasonable, perhaps, to date the commence- 
ment of the revolution that broke out nearly thirty years after- 
wards, from this period. Scarcely any thing could have contributed 
more to encourage the revolutionary principles already at work, 
than disputes which indicated such inveterate superstition and big- 
otry ; such determined opposition to all freedom of thought ; such 
sophistry and intrigue ; such submission to the cotn't of Rome ; such 
contempt of the public opinion, as expressed, for want of any better 
constituted orgi.n, in the remonstrances of the French parliament ; 
such a disposition on the part of the court and clergy to uphold the 
arbitrary powers of the sovereign, and this at a moment when the 
private life ot the monarch himself was in the highest degree profli- 
gate and abandoned, and the whole system of government a system 
of venality, favouritism, and public plunder. I'hese imprudent and 
unwise proceedings, at such a time, gave a handle to the philosophers, 
or literati^ of the day, to take the reform of matters into their own 
hands, and by supplying them with such ample materials for the 
exercise of their wits, as well as their courage, laid the foundation 
for a revolution which (so extensive were the abuses of government) 
almost necessarily threw every thing into confusion, and in the end 
far outstepped the bounds of all sober and discreet reform. Bred up 
by the Jesuits themselves, and instructed in all the branches of 
worldly and polite knowledge, they were amply prepared to expose 
the weakness or wickedness of their masters, when once the veil 
that shrouded their deceptions was by any accident removed. They 
stood ready to avail themselves ot any circumstances that might 
tend to render manifest the pride and obstinacy, hypocrisy and 
deceit, of an overbearing sect, who by their influence with the king, 
might at any time trample upon the liberties of the people. 

8. These philosophers, (for so they have been with too little dis- 
crimination called,) thus raised in the estimation of an oppressed 
people into the rank of champions of public freedom, were unfortu- 
nately, but probably through the artful designs of their instructers, 
little acquainted with the true principles of religion, however fa- 
miliar they might be with its abuses. In directing their attacks, 
therefore, against the Jesuits, they were rather anxious that their 
shafts should reach all the regular clergy, or monastic orders in 
general ; nor were they at all careful how much rehgion itself 
might suffer in the overthrow of its ministers. The enemies of tfie 
Jesuits in China, Portugal, Spain, and America, had been the 
Dominicans and Cordeliers. It was the aim of the philosophers, in 
crushing the Jesuits, to crush their rivals also; they were there- 
fore as severe against the Dominicans as against the Jesuits: the 



300 MODERN HISTORY. 

parliament only attaclted the latter. However attached Lewis XV. 
might be to the Jesuits, as the defenders of the catholic religion, 
and kingly authority, he appears to have entertained a jealousy 
of them, as censors of his immoral course of life, and as rnore at- 
tached to his son the dauphin than to himself He therefore be- 
came indifferent to the attacks making upon them ; while his mis- 
tress, the marchioness of Pompadour, and his minister, the duke de 
Choiseul, in order lo keep the king wholly in their own power, were 
ready to take part against the dauphin, the queen, the royal family, 
and the Jesuits themselves, of whom they were, for the reasons 
above stated, justly suspicious. The duke de Choiseul himself, in- 
deed, is said to have given the following account of his enmity to the 
order ; that being on an embassy at Rome, the general of the order 
frankly told him, that he knew, before he came, every thing that 
he had said about the society at Paris, and so convinced him that 
what he said was true, that he could not doubt but that, through 
some means or other, they were able to learn all that passed, not 
only in the cabinets of princes, but the interior of private houses, 
and that so dangerous a society ought not to subsist. It is proper to 
state this, in order to exonerate the duke from any suspicion of 
having sacrilied them to the philosophers, whose irreligious princi- 
ples he is known latterly not lo have approved. 

9. In the year 1,759 the Jesuits had bv^t.i expelled from Portugal, 
on a charge of countenancing an attack on the king's life. Under 
these circumstances, it is not surprising that the enemies of the order 
at Paris should attempt to fix on them the charge of the late attack 
on Le\vis XV., and to attribute to them regicide principles. Damiens 
himself seemed to have taken pains to leave the matter in extreme 
dovibt. They already were sulliciently branded in the eyes of the 
public, as the friends and assertors of arbitrary power, and enemies 
to liberty. To relieve the sovereigns of Europe from the thraldoni 
of a sect so powerful, so artful and dangerous, became a principle of 
action, which-the public were well enough disposed to countenance, 
and an opportunity only wjis wanting to accomplish their ruin. 

10. This opportunity the Jesuits themselves provided lor their 
enemies. Having endeavoured to escape from a demand made on 
them in consequence of some mercantile proceedings, in which one 
of their society was deeply involved, the tribunals to which the 
case was referred, having a handle given them by the pleadings 
of the Jesuits, very properly required to see the articles of their 
institution, hitherto, that is, tor more than two centuries, kept se- 
cret from all the world. The times were well fitted for such a 
discovery. All men of wit and unilerstanding, however unprinci- 
pled themselves, were well prepared to detect and expose the vul- 
nerable parts of their great charter or institute, (lor so it was 
called) and to lay open to the world at large the peculiar arts and 
contrivances, by which they were systematically instructed to ac- 
quire an absolute doiniiiion over the minds and consciences of men. 
The mysterious volume was found to contain sufficient to convict 
them of such bad principles, with regard both to civil government 
and morality, that, though the king hesitated at first to pass sen- 
tence on them, being almost as much alraid of their rivals and op- 
ponents, the Jansenists, the parliament, and the philosophers, as of 
themselves; yet, at length, August 6, 1,762, he was prevailed upon 
to issue a decree, by which they were secularized, and their posses- 
sions ordered to be sold, which was speedily, and with very ievr 



MODERN HISTORY. 301 

exceptions, carried into execution in all parts of the kingdom. 
Efforts indeed were made to save them, as being essentially necessa- 
ry to combat the attacks of the new philosophy, and to check the 
progress of deism and atheism ; as heretofore they had interposed to 
confound schismatics and heretics ; both the altar and the thr.one, it 
was alleged, needed their services now more than ever; but all 
these* movements in their favour were in vain. The duke de 
Choiseul and the marchioness of Pompadour had the iiitiuence to 
procufe an e;dict from the king for the actual abolition of the order 
in France, which was issued in November,, 1,764, and other courts 
of Europe judged it wise to take the same steps. Spain and Portu- 
gal having at this time ministers, whose principles and politics much 
resembled those of the duke de Choiseul ; the count d'Aranda, and 
the marquis de Pombal ; _ the Jesuits were expelled from Spain, 
Naples, and Sicily, from Mexico, Peru, and Paraguay, in the course 
of one and the same year, 1,7(37. . 

1 1. The fate of the Jesuits was no sooner decided, than the par- 
liaments, elated by the downfal of their great opponents, began to at- 
tack the arbitrary power of the king. The prot]i^;iie liie of the 
latter had withdrawn him too much from the cares pf g(fv6riinient, 
and opened the door to abuses in almost every department ot adryin- 
istratiorl ; but while the parliaments were thus engaged, some very 
extraordinary processes at law, particularly the case of the (.'alas 
family at Thoulouse, of lAtbarrc. at Abbeville, and of the celebrated 
Lally^ commander in India, in which shocking instances of fanaticism 
and oppression occurred, turned the eyes of the philosophers,, with 
Voltairt at their he id, to the defects of the Vvench jurisprudenct:^ and 
excited a strong feeling against both the laws of France, and the 
administrators of them. 

12. The nation fiad sustained a considerable loss in the death of 
the dauphin, who, though a favourer ol the Jesuits to a certain e^- 
tf^nt, exhibited a character so difi'erent from that of his father in 
many most essential points, as to render him very justly popular: his 
highness died at the age of ciG, in the year 1,705 ; his wife, a prin- 
cess of the house of Saxony, surviving him only fifteen months. In 
1,770, through the agency of the duke de Choiseul, a new connex- 
ion took place between the courts of \'ienna and \ ersailles, by the 
marriage of the young dauphin, afterwards Lewis XVI., with the 
daughter of the empress dowager, the archduchess Marie x\ntoi- 
nette ; an union attended with such costly and splendid festivities at 
the time, as must excite, in every sensible mind, the most awful re- 
tleclions on the dismal events which are i^v known to have clouded 
its latter days. ^ 

13. The marriage of the dauphin took place at a time when the 
differences between the king and his parliament had arisen to the 
greatest height. In the course of the years 1,770 and 1,771, the 
king held several beds of justice, but without at all subduing the 
spirit which had been raised against his edicts, and which the minis- 
ter, in opposition to the chancellor, is supposeu to have encouraged ; 
a new parhament, and six councils, on tne suggestion of the latter, 
were proposed to be constituted, to supply the place of the refracto- 
ry members, who were banished ; but "tiiis measure was oj>posed, 
not only by the regular parliaments, but by the princes of the blood, 
and several even ol' the very persons nominated to form and preside 
in the new assembhes. Several provincial parliaments, as well as 

C c 



302 MODERN HISTORY. 

that of Paris, were suppressed, and as many as seven hundred magis- 
trates exiled or contined. 

14. The year 1,774 terminated the life and reign of Lewis XV. ; 
he died in the 65th year of his age, having reigned 58. The latter 
part of his life was highly disgraceful in a private point of view, and 
utterly feeble in a public one ; nor was his death at all regretted. 
He was succeeded by his grandson Lewis XVI., who had lost an 
elder brother in the year 1,761, his father in 1,765, and his mother 
in 1,767; strange mortality in one family, and too much resembling 
the losses in that of Lewis XIV., (see Sect. I.,) then imputed to 
poison ; a charge revived upon this occasion, but probably entirely 
without foundation. 

15. At the very commencement of his reign, but not without some 
sacrifice of his private feelings and opinions, Lewis XVI. complied 
with the general wish of having the old parliaments restored, and 
the new councils formed by the chancellor Maupeou, dissolved ; a 
measure which seemed to difl'use an almost universal joy throughout 
the capital and provinces. The king had taken into his service tivo 
ministers of a disposition favourable to the wishes of the people ; 
the venerable count de Maurepas, and M. Turgot. In conjunction 
with these ministers, Lewis was undoubtedly disposed to reform 
abuses, and promote the happiness of his people ; but unfortunately 
the state of France, if not of the world in general, precluded all 
hope, of any gradual and temperate change. 

16. The American contest had commenced ; a declaration of rights 
had appeared there, exceedingly well calculated to open the eyes 
of those who had not yet seen, and to encourage the revolutionary 
movements of those who hcul been able to detect, and were prepared 
to expose, the great abuses subsisting in tlie French government ; al- 
ready had the philosophers successfully attacked the Jesuits; aimed 
some severe blows at the monastic orders in general, as well as at the 
court of Rome, which had supported and abetted them in every at- 
tempt to uphold the papal and royal authority, and to stiHe the com- 
plaints of the people. The tyranny thus inveighed against and at- 
tacked, had incited an opposition, much more likely to promote 
licentiousness than assist the cause of real and genuine liberty. The 
errors of Catholicism, upheld by a bigoted and infatuated clergy, at 
variance with the only assemblies in the nation capable of any con- 
stitutional remonstrance, however ineffectual, naturally hurried the 
wits and freethinkers of that lively nation into extremes which every 
sober minded man could not fail to lament; in a very short course of 
time, from railing at the regular clergy, they proceeded to rail at 
religion, and even atheism was propagated in a way that bespoke a 
dreadful disregard of all principles of religion, common honesty, and 
honour; in works purporting to have been written by very respect- 
able persons, deceased, who had holden, when alive, opinions diamet- 
rically opposite to those that were thus stamped with their names. 
These were among some of the most dreadful forerunners of a rev- 
olution, which, had it been properly managed, had it fallen into the 
hands of persons better prepared to act upon the true priuciples of 
religion and orderly government, considering the progress of knowl- 
edge and the powerful impulse which the human mind had received, 
was not unseasonable in point of time and circumstances. 

17. It would be absurd, however, to deny the abilities of many of 
the persons who now stood forward to stem the torrent of abuses, 
and vindicate the rights of the people ; several of them had wit. 



MODERN HISTORY. 303 

and learning, and science, at command, to the highest degree ; some 
of them had a Uvely sense of hberty, but they had been ill-taught 
on the subjects of religion and morality ; they had read Locke, with- 
out imbibing Locke's best principles ; they had confounded the 
abuses of Christianity with Christianity itself; they were witty and 
ingenious, but not comparable in wisdom and conduct with their con- 
temporaries in Scotland, or in England ; the latter were the truest 
friends to liberty, the best philosophers, and the best politicians, as 
their writings show. The celebrated Encyclopaedia, which first ap- 
peared in 1,751, had supplied an opportunity for all the literati of 
France to express their most private sentiments on government, 
political economy, and the management of the finances. Amongst 
these the economists bore a conspicuous part; their whole system, 
when rightly understood, being one of liberty, whether it regarded 
personal rights, the free application of industry, or the exportation 
of corn. The author to the Introduction to the Encyclopsedia, M. 
d'Alembert, was a man of considerable talents, but a deist in principle ; 
his coadjutor, Diderot, an atheist. 

18. The ministry of Turgot, while it lasted, was rather calculated 
to give encouragement to the French reformers ; his own views 
were undoubtedly liberal and patriotic, and he had a master sincere- 
ly disposed, in all likelihood, to further any practicable plan of 
reform, but the course of the minister was too precipitate ; his views 
extended to too many objects, and were such as admitted not of any 
speedy accomplishment ; they were too mighty for the grasp of any 
one man ; they only excited the animosity of the privileged orders, 
and drove them into measures of defence, more calculated to work 
their own overthrow than conciliate their enemies. The advocates 
of ancient abuses and unreasonable customs, they treated their op- 
ponents with an ill-judged contempt, and by resisting all amelioration 
of the present order of things, laid the foundation for a thousand 
impracticable systems and extravagant theories, new constitutions 
and schemes of government, which being severally proposed, tried, 
and rejected, in rapid succession, at last involved every thing in con- 
fusion, anarchy, and ruin. 

19. While the seeds of revolution, if not of republicanism, plen- 
tifully sown, were beginning to germinate in I- ranee, in America the 
people were already acting upon the vevy principle of resistance to 
an alleged tyranny. It required only to bring the two countries, by 
some means or other, into contact, to spread the contagion, and 
revolutionize both nations as the different circumstances and charac- 
ters of the people should severally determine. At the beginning of 
the year 1 ,778, a formal alliance was negotiated between the court 
of Versailles and the revolutionary government of America; but 
long before tiiat, in the year 1,77 4, the American declaration of 
rights, on which their opposition to the English government rested, 
was received in France, as a kind of practical aj)plication of the 
theoretical schemes of the French philosophers, and might reasona- 
bly have alarmed all the courts of Europe ; though the contrary 
was the fact. France and Spain sent help, and Pnuiaia approved the 
American proceedings, not so much out of friendship towards the 
Americans, as of blind hostility to Great Britain. The king of France 
is said to have foreseen the ill consequences of such a war, but to 
have weakly given way to contrary advice. 

20. The S}>eeches of opposition, in the mean time, in the two Eng- 
lish houses of parliament, greatly interested the people on the conti- 



304 MODERN HISTORY. 

nent ; the crowned heads, indeed, took little notice of the warning, 
whilst the subjects were listening attentively to the lessons of liberty 
promulgated by Chatham^ Fox, and Burke. Unfortunately, the court 
of Versailles, at this very time, with the exception of the king, who 
was inclined to economy, fell into the utmost extravagancies of 
luxury, gayety, and dissipation ; drew largely, and without any con- 
sideration, on the public treasury, though the linances were in a 
most depressed state; invented all kinds of novelties, and seemed 
bent upon exchanging the forms and etiquette of a court for trifling- 
though expensive amusements, not omitting such as promoted and 
encouraged the spirit of gambling. 

21. While these things were going on at court, and too much 
countenanced, it is to be feared, by the queen, she received a visit 
from her eccentric brother, the emperor Joseph the second, which 
had, or appeared to have, an oxtraordinarj' efiect on the Parisians ; 
being so timed as to fall in with the new notions that had been 
adopted, of manly simplicity, and a republican severity of manners^? 
The incog into he preserved, he carried so far as to dismiss, in a very 
striking manner, all the glare and pomp of royalty ; the frankness 
of his manners, unostentatious and frugal mode of lile, led the French 
more particularly to notice, and to condemn more severely, the 
thoughtless luxury and dissipation of their own court and princes. 

22. The king had a hard and cruel task upon his hands ; he found 
it impossible to check a course of extravagance and levity in his 
own tjimily, whicii he could not, and, in fact, did not approve ; in his 
choice of ministers, he was sure to oticnd one party or the other ; 
thus, when in 1,776, on the dismission of M. Turgot, he first appoint- 
ed the celebrated M. Necker, of Geneva, to the high ofKce of su- 
preme director of the finances, the privileged orders took the 
alarm ; they thought they saw in the*citizen of a republic, and a 
protcstant, a decitfed friend to the liberal ideas that were afloat to 
their prejudice, and the enemy and corrector of all abuses of power 
and place. When, on the removal of M. Necker, the management 
of the finances was delivered into other hands, the people complain- 
ed that their friend and favourite had been sacrificed, to intrigue and 
cabal, and that he had been checked and supplanted, at a moment 
when he was chalking out a system of reform, highly beneficial to 
the state, and favourable to their best interests. 

23. In ],783j M. dc Calonne undertook to restore order to the 
finances, and his measures were exactly such as were calculated to 
bring matters to a crisis, and hasten the revolution which had for ;i 
long time been impending. Inclined to favour the luxury and prod- 
igality of the court, and atlJie same time to provide for the deficien- 
cies in the revenue, he boldly attacked the privileged orders, by 
proposing, as the best impost he could devise, a general land tax, 
fairly adjusted, and from which there should be 7io exemption. To 
carry this great point into execution, being no favourite with the 
parliament, he recommended the convocation of the assembly of the 
notables; (a name given to a former meeting of select and distin- 
guished persons, in the year 1,620.) To this advice the king assent- 
ed, doubtless with the best intentions, though many about the court 
pretended, even at that time, to foresee in this measure the downfal 
of the monarchy, and the I'uin of the minister who had proposed it. 
The king gave his consent, December 1,786, and in February 1,787 
this extraordinary assembly met. The minister had undoubtedly act- 
ed constitutionally in calling it, however rashly in regard to his owq 



MODERN HISTORY. 305 

interests, and the king has been supposed to have imbibed from liis 
father a strong inclination to consult such public and national councils. 
In this instance, however, both the crown and the minister were de- 
ceived ; the latter, who expected to be allowed to lay his plans 
before them in the way of commands to be obeyed, was soon dis- 

E laced, on the remonstrances and demand of the very assembly he 
ad ventured to call together ; and though it did some good in the 
way of regulation and reform, during the short period of its sitting, 
which was only till the 25th of May, 1,787, it was far from answer- 
ing the purposes for which it had been convoked. The members of 
it, however, had acquired information hitherto withheld from the 
public, and imbibed principles triendly to liberty. 

24. On the dismission of M. de Calonne, his successor, the 
archbishop of Tlioulouse, by an arbitrary and inconsiderate be- 
haviour, involved his sovereign in another unpleasant contest with 
the parliament, who, in a moment of irritation, called lor a meet- 
ing of the states-general. The credit and power of the parliaments 
had hitherto been chiefly owing to the disuse of these national 
councils, so that if it had been proposed with any sincere desire of 
redressing grievances, and resisting oppression, the members with 
whom it originated would have deserved the credit of patriotism ; 
but probably they were swayed by motives less pure. The king, 
however, consented to their convocation in 1,792, but in the mean 
time had many unpleasant altercations with tSie parliament, and 
on one occasion was treated with so little ceremony, or rather such 
indignity, as it was thought, by the due d'Orleans, as to occasion his 
banishment. 

25. The minister, in order to break or reduce the power of par- 
liament, thus openly at variance with him, and to get rid of the 
younger members, whose refractory spirit was but too apparent, 
projected the appointment of a cour j>lfiiicre^ consisting oi' persons 
selected by the king from the principal nobility, professions and 
othcers of state. The court was formed, anil sat long enough to 
enforce the ministerial decrees, but amidst such murmuring and 
confusion, such violent remonstrances and objections, attended with 
popular commotions in the capital and provinces, that in a short 
time the scheme was abandoned, and the minister announced to the 
public the king's intention of convoking the states-general in the 
year ensuing ; he was then dismissed from his high office, and, to 
the great joy of the parliament and people, M. Necker was recalled. 

2G. The royal word had been pledge for the summoning the 
states-general in 1,789; and it was soon found to be a promise, 
which, though the chief management of the finances bad passed 
into other and more popular hands, could not easily be abandoned. 
They had not been assembled since the year 1,614, and dithculties 
therefore were started as to the best mode of arranging them ; the 
king even condescended to refer the matter to the decision of all 
tlie corporate and learned bodies of the realm ; an extraordinary step 
to take, but lavoured by the minister, who had it in view to give con- 
sequence to the third estate, or commonalty, in order to counter- 
balance the too great influence of the privileged orders. 

27. This popular design of the minister, besides alarming the 
clergy and nobility, did not meet with the ready concurrence of 
the parliamfnt; and it was even proposed, by M. d'Espresmesnil, 
a member who bad incurred both banishment and imprisonment in 
the course of his opposition to tlic court, to adopt at once the plan of 
Cc2 39 



306 MODERN HISTORY. 

1,614; a proposal lo which the parliament acceded ; but it had the 
effect of rendering them immediately as unpopidar as the privi- 
leged orders. The claims of the third estate met with the support 
of a large majority of the people, as might naturally have been 
expected at such a moment ; the commons of 1 ,788 were very dif- 
ferent ii-om those who were first summoned to meet in 1,302, upon 
apian which had continued to 1,614. It was reasonable to adopt 
new ibrms ; and it was therefore strongly insisted that they should^ 
upon this occasion, in order to be upon a par with the other orders, 
have a double representation, and deliberate together. Had the plan 
of the states-general of 1,614 been adopted, tlie parliament would 
liave appeared there with much greater eclat than in any new ar- 
rangement ; this may account for the part they took upon this occa- 
sion. They entirely expected, in demanding the convocation of the 
states, that ihey should have the chief place in that assembly, and 
continue to enjoy the confidence of the people. 

28. Such was the state of things at this memorable period; an 
infatuation the most surprising seemed to hurry on the privileged 
ordci-s to their ruin and destruction, and with them the monarcny. 
Instead of bending in any manner to the force of popular opinion, 
or acknowledging the justice of the claims made on them, as a fa- 
voured class, they more strongly than ever stoo<l upon their privi- 
leges, and appeared to treat with contempt that powerful and now 
enlightened majority that was opposed to them ; they insisted more 
than ever upon their feudal rights, after the whole system had been 
virtually abolished. Conduct of this kind could not fail to stimulate 
the other party to deeds of violence and retaliation, in which the 
authority of the established laws and customs came soon to be to- 
tally disregarded, and every thing seemed to tend to ruin and dev- 
astation; when the election of the states-general was appointed to 
take place, both sides exerted themselves with the utmost zeal and 
anxiety, but the result was found to be highly favourable to the 
democratic party. 

29. Groat changes had already taken place in the character and 
manners of the Parisians. Since the American war, a strong dispo- 
sition had been shown to imitate the English, in dress, mannei"s, 
amusements, and freedom of speech ; the respect which had former- 
ly prevailed for high birth and rank was every day diminishing ; 
persons of all classes were beginning to be raised to situations of dis- 
tinction and confidence; and some of the great themselves, instead 
of maintaining the distance preserved by tneir ancestors, made ap- 
proaches towards the lower ranks, by intermarriages, and the open 
and general encouragement of literature, trade, commerce, and 
agriculture; even the fiemales began to discuss questions of state, to 
expi't ss a lively and sentimental concern tor all oppressed persons or 
nations, and to wish that all the young men who could speak elo- 
quently upon these subjects in their private assemblies, should have, 
as in England, a field opened to them for the more public display of 
their tnlents and abilities. It is not to be wondered tliat, under these 
circumstances, every eye should be tixed on the meeting of that 
great national council, wliose powers had not been called into action 
tor the long space of nearly two centuries. 



MODERN HISTORT. 307 



SECTION X. 

AUSTRIA, FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE SEVEN YEARS' 
WAR TO THE DEATH OF MARIA THERESA, 1,763—1,780. 

1 . With regard to Austria, the seven years' war terminated with 
the peace of Hubertsburg- which was signed on the 5th of Febru- 
ary, 1,763, (see Sect. VI.) and on the 27th of May, 1,764, as the 
frnits of that peace, the empress was gratified with the election of 
her son Joseph to the dignity of king of the Romans ; a point of 
great importance to her, considering the circumstances that had re- 
tarded the elevation of her royal consort to the imperial throne. 
The election was most opportune, for the emperor Francis survived 
it but a very short time, being struck with a lit of apoplexy in the 
month of August of the same year, while attending the nuptials of 
his second son at Inspruck, in the Tyrol. Francis had borne his fac- 
ulties meekly, resigning to his imperial consort the cares, as well as 
the state and parade of government, which, indeed, more regularly 
appertained to her than to himself; he obviously withdrew from 
the authority that seemed to have devolved to him ; and if he occu- 
pied himself at all with the affairs of government, it was rather to 
supply its pecuniary demands from his Tuscan treasury, than for any 
other purposes ; not so much in the way of gain, as of regular busi- 
ness and prudential management. Of the high estimation in which 
he was held by the empress there can be little doubt ; her affection 
for him had a romantic cast, and seemed founded on what so seldom 
occurs, or can be expected to occur in royal marriages, an early, 
fixed, and solid attachment. 

2. Her majesty employed herself, from the conclusion of the 
treaty of Hubertsburg, in ameliorating in every way possible the 
condition of her country ; in founding philosophical academies, re- 
forming the schools, encouraging by premiums the manafactures, 
and in restraining several feudal abuses: she had the opportunity 
afforded her of contributing to the introduction of the variolous inocu- 
lation into her dominions. She interfered, and in a very judicious 
ninnnor, in the regulations regarding monasteries and nunneries, abol- 
ished the dangerous privilege of asylum, the horrible excesses of 
the inquisition, and the inhuman judicial process of torture. She 
also suppressed the society of Jesuits. 

3. Considering the extreme repugnance Maria Theresa had 
shown to the dismemberment of her own domains on the death of 
her father, it must seem greatly to redound to her discredit that she 
could have become a party to the partition of Poland : but it may 
very fairly be inferred that she was driven into it. Being unable to 
serve the cause of Saxony she had no other alternative against the 
combination of Russia, Prussia, and the Porte, than to claim a part : 
though it is almost proved that she was drawn in by Prussia to par- 
take of the plunder, that she might also share the odium excited by 
it. After the partition indeed began to have effect, and was sanction- 
ed by the Polish delegates nominated for that purpose, Maria 
Theresa appears to have had no scruples in extending her encroach- 
ments, and supporting Prussia in the same attempts, to such a degree 
even as to provoke the interposition of Russia. It was not till the 



308 MODERN HISTORY. 

year 1,777 that all the three parties were satisfied, and brought to 
an agreement in regard to limits ; the portion assigned to Austria 
being decidedly the greatest in extent. In the same year the em- 
press queen, by a convention, signed on the 5th day of February, 
obtained possession of the Buccovina, ceded to her by the Porte. 
Her situation was at this period particularly flourishing, her army 
numerous and well disciplined, her finances in good order, and her 
alliance with France cemented by many marriages with the Bourbon 
prihces ; but after the partition of Poland, and the connexion the 
empress queen seemed thus to have formed with Russia and Prussia, 
an anti-Austrian party sprang up at the court of Versailles, who 
persuaded the king to renew his connexions with Prussia, in order 
to secure some clieck against the augmentation of the power of 
Austria; this, however, was done without violating subsisting trea- 
ties, or breaking friendship with Maria Theresa. Lewis XVI. was 
much more jealous of the son than of the mother, and not without 
reason ; the views of the former being evidently ambitious and en- 
croaching, and highly anti-gallican. 

4. In December, 1,777, on the death of the elector of Bavaria, 
both the emperor and empress queen laid claim to his dominions as 
fiefs or allodials, properly descending or reverting to one or other 
of them, having previously taken steps to arrange matters with their 
more immediate competitor, the elector Palatine ; and relying 
strongly on the support of France, as well as on the age and infirmi- 
ties of the king of Prussia : but the latter found means to interpose, 
by stimulating the duke of Deux Fonts, presumptive heir to the 
elector Palatine, to appeal to himself and the king of France against 
the dismemberment of the Bavarian territories, referring, in confir- 
mation of his rights, to the treaty of Pavia, confirmed by the Golden 
Bull, and the treaty of Westphalia ; all these authorities were disput- 
ed on the part of the emperor and empress, who insisted on the 
validity and legality of the arrangements made with the elector 
Palatine. The emperor in the mean while oflered to submit his 
own claims to the judgment of the diet, and to mediate between his 
mother and the other claimants : preparations, nevertheless, were 
made for deciding the matter by arms, and both the emperor and 
king of Prussia took the field at the head of their respective forces ; 
but the empress queen, fearing tor her son, made many overtures of 
peace, sought the mediation of Russia and France, and, though con- 
tinually thwarted by the emperor, who was inclined to war, and un- 
willing to submit to the dictates of foreign powers, succeeded in re- 
storing tranquillit)^, by the treaty of Teschen, 1,779. By this treaty 
many arran-jements were entered into to satisfy the king of Prussia, 
the elector Palatine, the duke of Deux Fonts, and the elector of 
Saxony. And Austria acquired territory, though of no great extent, 
very important in point of situation. She obtained from Bavaria the 
circle of Curghausen, which opened a passage to the Tyrol, and 
was not compelled absolutely to renounce any of her claims, though 
she found means to forego with credit the further prosecution of 
them. 

France had done enough during these disputes about Bavaria, to 
give umbrage to the court of Vienna ; she had secretly opposed the 
dismemberment of the electorate, she had not supplied the succours 
she was required to do according to the treaty of Versailles, and she 
had manifested a distrust of the emperor, bordering upon contempt. 
This conduct had the effect of throwing the latter into the arms of 



MODERN HISTORY. 309 

England and Russia; in the 'contest with America, Joseph espoused 
the cause of England, pronounced it to be the cause of all sovereigns, 
and prohibited all intercourse between the subjects of the empire 
and the revolted colonioe; With regard to Russia he took a mo-re 
active part; he visited Catherine on her celebrated journey to the 
Crimea, and at Petersburg ingratiated himself with her to an ex- 
traordinary degree, alienated her from the old king of Prussia, and in 
so doing procured her assistance in promoting the advanoen\ent of 
his brother the archduke Maximilian to the coadjutorsiiip of Colore 
and Munster, the last wish of Maria Theresa, who had thus, in an 
extraordinary manner, found the means to provide, before her death, 
for all her numerous family. But her end was approachjog : in 
November, 1,780, she was seized with an illness, which terminated 
her existence ; her last days were passed in acts of devotion and atten- 
tions to her son, the emperor, and others of her family, particularly 
striking and grand. She displayed at this awful moment a powerful 
mind, a warm heart, and a truly christian fortitude : she died No- 
vember 29, 1,780, in the 64th year of her age, and 41st of her 
reign. She was not exempt from weaknesses, but her virtues, 
both public and private, greatly preponderated ; the former were of 
the most splendid cast, the latter altogether as amiable. Nine out of 
sixteen children survived her. 

Joseph, who succeeded her ; Leopold, great duke of Tuscany ; 
Ferdinand, governor of Austrian Lombardy and duke of Modena 
by reversion ; Maximilian, coadjutor of Cologne and Munster ; Mary 
Anne, abbess of Prague ; Mary Christina, wife of Albert, duke of 
Saxony ; Maria Elizabeth, abbess of Inspruck ; Maria Amelia, duchess 
of Parma ; Caroline, queen of Naples ; Maria Antoinetta, queen of 
France, 



SECTION XI. 
REIGNS OF JOSEPH II., LEOPOLD II., &c., FROM 1,765 TO 1,800. 

1. On the demise of his father, Francis I., Joseph, who had been 
elected king of the Romans in 1,764, ascended the imperial throne, 
at the age of twenty-four, in the year 1,765, his mother being still 
living. It was soon apparent that he projected great changes, and 
the reformation of many abuses, but in pursuing these purposes he 
was undoubtedly too precipitate and too adventurous ; his educa- 
tion had not been such as to tit him for such high attempts. It was 
impossible to unite in the way he proposed such scattered domin- 
ions; it was impossible to carry into execution all the schemes he 
had invented for the consolidation and improvement of the empire. 
In the Belgic provinces, in particular, he rendered himself extreme- 
ly unpopular by the violence of his proceedings, but this was not 
till after his mothers death ; as long as she lived she sedulously en- 
deavoured to restrain the impetuosity and warlike disposition of her 
son, apprehending that he had many enemies at hand, and that not- 
withstanding the pretended courtesy of the king of Prussia, mani- 
fested in private interviews as well as public negotiations, he could 
not have much chance of success in coping with so able, powerful, 
and experienced an opponent; in this, perhaps, she showed some 
sense, though it has been doubted whether she did not too much 
xontrol the ardent spirit of her son. The empress queen dying in 



310 MODERN HISTORY. 

the year 1 ,780, Joseph was left to the piireuit of his own whims and 
projects, in many instances most extravagant, in almost all oppressive. 
For though there was an appearance of liberality, and much show of 
good, he evidently seemed to consult nothing but his own arbitrary 
will. 

2. Had his education been such as to enable him to form a right 
judgment of things, had not his genius been cramped, and his rea- 
son perveited, by a choice of tutors and preceptors peculiarly ill 
quEfwfeed to fit him for the arduous and conspicuous station to which 
he had been elevated by the circumstances of his birth and con- 
nexions, he might certainly have done great good, and actually 
ameliorated the condition of a large and most interesting portion 
of the human race, for his manners were such as to have led him 
to a just knowledge of their wants, and a proper sense of their 
claims upon society. He travelled tlirough Europe, as if he were 
bent on seeing the real condition of his fellow-creatures, in all ranks 
and situations of life ; discarding all pomp and parade, he sought the 
society and couA'ersation of persons far below him, and encouraged 
every one to give him information upon subjects most nearly touch- 
ing their interests. Since Peter I. of Russia, no monarch had taken 
such pains to procure information, and survey every thing with his 
own eyes. 

3. The whole extent of his dominions was supposed to contain 
a population of 24,000,000, distinguished however by a great va- 
riety of lav/g, custom*, religious opinions, and language ; the lc™er 
orders subject to many restrictions, attaching to the state of vas- 
salage in which they were still held by their feudal lord and su- 
peiiors. The Roman catholic religion chiefly prevailed ; the cler- 
gy were wealthy, and possessed great influence. Maria Theresa 
had perceived what was wrong, and had shown an excellent dis- 
position to amend matters, but had partly been compelled by cir- 
cumstances, and swayed by prudence, to proceed moderately and 
gradually. Joseph was more impetuous; he was so eager to break 
down all distinctions, that, among other regulations, he insisted 
on having but one language for the whole empire, though no less 
than ten principal languages were spoken at that time, and in 
common use. Within the confines of his dominions, all his other 
projects were of the same description, whether good or bad, ex- 
ceedingly too hasty ; he broke up old systems before he was well 
prepai-ed to establish new ones, and in the interval, necessarily 
occasioned such confusion, disgust, and trouble, as to hinder every 
good effect, and thwart his own purposes ; in all his regulations he 
seemed bent upon upholding his own imperial power, not only by 
omitting to introduce any new checks upon it, but even abolishing 
old ones ; he particularly displeased his Hungarian subjects, those 
faithful adherents of his mother, by interfering with their laws and 
customs, and offending some of their fondest prejudices. 

4. Though attached to the Roman catholic rehgion, he showed 
great disregard of the papal authority, by subjecting the monas- 
teries to episcopal jurisdiction, suppressing many, and reducing the 
numbers, both of monks and nuns, in all that were permitted to 
continue, with great want of feeling ; he omitted to make any pro- 
vision for those who were discharged ; he broke through many su- 
perstitions, not rightly judging how deeply they were interwoven 
with the religious feelings of the people, and how much the latter 
therefore were likely to be affected by such violence and haste ; 



MODERN HISTORY. 311 

he abolished the privileges of primogeniture, declared marriage 
(heretofore regarded as a sacrament) to be only a civil contract, 
and rendered bastards capable of inheriting. The wisest and most 
truly liberal of all his innovations was that which, by a public edict, 
dated October 31, 1,781, established^a_general toleration for all the 
" j3ca</i6»/ic?V' or dissenters from the Romish religion. This and other 
measures of interference with ecclesiastical matters so disturbed and 
alarmed pope Pius VI., as to induce him to take a journey to Vienna, 
personally to remonstrate with the emperor. His plan was opposed 
at Rome, and entirely discouraged by the Austrian ministry ; but his 
holiness persisted, and, after a visit of much form and ceremony, re- 
turned in about a month, without effecting any change in the senti- 
ments or proceedings of Joseph. 

5. In the same precipitate manner, as in other instances, he sud- 
denly abolished feudal vassalage, without any suitable arrangements 
for the relief of those who must evidently suffer by such an imjior- 
tant change of tenure ; and while he prided himself upon putting an 
end to slavery, he subjected the emancipated to such arbitrary im- 
posts of his own invention, as plainly to convince them that they had 
not in reality recovered their freedom. To countervail these errors 
in legislation and government, he certainly showed great merit in 
the encouragement he gave to arts, letters, trade, and manufactures; 
in founding numerous schools and universities, public libraries, labor- 
atories and observatories; in improving the public roads, making 
canals, and establishing free ports. In 1,784, he obtained permission 
from the Forte to navigate tlie Turkish seas, which seemed to afford 
excellent means to his Hungarian subjects, who were otherwise iU_ 
situated for trade, to carry on an extensive commerce by way of 
the Danube ; war, however, soon interrupted this accommodation ; in 
1,787 it came, to an end. 

6. Iq 1,781, Joseph, having concerted his plans with France, who 
had altered her measures towards him, probably for the very pur- 
pose, determined to break through the barrier treaty* imposed 
upon Austria when the Netherlands were transferred to Charles VI., 
and which, though undoubtedly affording security to Austria itself 
against the French, must be allowed to have constantly carried in 
it something galling to the feelings of the imperial court, as entirely 
dictated by the maritime powers. The fortifications of the barrier 
towns had now fallen into decay, and the connexion which had 
for some time subsisted between the courts of Versailles and Vien- 
na, seemed to afford the emperor plausible grounds for declining to 
pay for the military protection of a frontier no longer likely to be 
disturbed. He therefore directed all the fortifications in the Nether- 
lands to be done away, except those of Luxemhurgh^ Ostend^ JVaiimr^ 
and Antwerp ; while the Dutch, who had been desired to withdraw 
their garrisons, as no longer necessary, or entitled to pay, judged it 
wise to comply. 

7. This violation of the barrier treaty, complied with in the last 
instance so easily by the united provinces, was quickly followed 
by fresh demands on the latter power, under pretence of more ac- 
curately adjusting the boundaries of the Dutch and Austrian Neth- 
erlands. The cession of the city of Maestricht and the contigu- 
ous district of Outer Meuse being among other things insisted 
upon. At length, however, and about the year 1,784, thSse claims 

* See Coxe iv. 152, 133, &c. 



312 MODERN HISTORY. 

all seemed to merge in one sweeping demand, to have the' full and 
free navigation of the river Scheld, lor the purposes of establishing, 
in favour of his Flemish subjects, a direct trade with the East In- 
dies, and of restoring the city of Antwerp, once the emporium of 
Europe, to its proper degree of splendour and importance ; a proj- 
ect, which, if it could have been accomplished without interfering 
with so many ibreign interests, and the manifest violation of sub- 
sisting treaties, may be said to have reflected no disgrace on the 
policy, wisdom, or paternal care of the emperor; but it was impos- 
sible to expect that such chiinges should be allowed to proceed 
without great opposition. It was soon discovered that both France 
and Prussia were prepared to support the Dutch against liim, and 
thougli the empress of Russia had endeavoured to deter the latter 
from aiding the Hollanders, the project was laid aside, and Joseph, 
instead of his views on the Scheld, resumed some of his- former de- 
mands. In the end, however, every thing was compromised by 
money, through the mediation of the French king, or rather in con- 
formity to the dictates of the French minister. 

8. Another object which the emjieror attempted almost at the 
same time, but equally without eflect, was the exchange of the 
Netherlands for Bavaria. He had taught his mother to covet the 
latter country, and its acquisition would undoubtedly have render- 
ed his dominions more compact, and given him a continued line of 
territory, from the fronli'^r of 'Fuikey to the Mediterranean sea, 
while it might have relieved him from the charge of a mofe distant 
portion of his dominions, held by a very uncertain and troublesome 
tenure. Joseph had calculated upon overcoming all the dithcul- 
ties that might arise from foreign powers; had secured the consent 
of Russia, and even negotiated the proposed exchange with the 
elector of Bavaria, (who, if it took place, was to be maile king of 
Austrasia or Burgundy.) But Frederic II., at the age of seventy- 
four, again interposed : and, l)y forming w ith the several princes and 
states of the empire what wa* called the (iernianic union, for main- 
taining the integrity and indivisibility of the Germanic body in gen- 
eral, ellectually prevented the exchange so much desired. The 
principal parties to the union, which was settled and contiimed, July 
1,785, were, besides the king of Prussia, the electors of Hanoverj 
Saxony, and Mentz, the margrave ot Anspach, and the duke ot 
Deux Fonts. The whole scheme, indeed, was (bund to be so im- 
practicable, that the emperor and elector judged it prudent to deny 
tliat any convention to that effect had taken place between them. 

9. In 1,7}J8, Joseph incurred considerable di-'grace, by his attacks 
\ipon Turkey. He had projected, in conjunction with the empress 
of Russia, whom he had llattered by a visit to the Crimea, the total 
dismemberment of that empire ; but blunder upon blunder defeated 
his purposes, and he retired Irom the contest blamed by all parties. 
In 1,789, however, hostilities wert renewed, and in the battle of 
Rimnik, which took place in the month of September, tlie combined 
forces of Russia and Austria gained an important victory over the 
Turks, under the command of the grand vizier. I'he capture of 
Belgrade soon after, by the army of Loudon, completed their 
triumphs ; but their success occasioned jealousies, which effectually 
interrupted the career of victory. England, i Holland, and Prussia, 
began to be alarmed at the increasing power of Ru'^sia and Austria; 
and, by fomenting the troubles in the Netherland:=, drew the atten- 
tion of Joseph from his intended encroachments on Turkey. 



MODERN HISTORY. 313 

10. In no part of his dominions were his attempts at reformation 
worse received, or worse managed, than in the Netherlands. Di- 
vided into many provinces, and each province governed by distinct 
laws, customs, and regulations; some secured by charter, in the 
enjoyment of important privileges and immunities, nothing could 
possibly have been thought of more vexatious than that of redu- 
cing t"hem all under one system of administration, commencing with 
the sudden and violent abolition of many convents, and the sup- 
pression of many institutions, forms, and ceremonies, by long usage 
become little less than sacred in the eyes of the people. The 
courts of law, the universities iind schools, were subjected to sim- 
ilar changes, nor did the imperial decrees spare any order of men, 
or any public establishment, however respectable in other respects, 
from undergoing this severe ordeal, and re\'olutionary process. 
Nothing could exceed the consternation and disgust with which these 
new regulations were received by all ranks of persons, from the 
lowest to the highest ; for even the governors-general sided with 
the refractory party, and were averse iVom carrying into execution 
a system so exceedingly repugnant to the feelings of the people in 
general, but especially of the principal persons amongst the cler- 
gy, laity, and magistrates. RioLs and disturbances took place, as 
might have l)een expected, in many parts, and France was applied 
to for assistance, as guarantee of their liberties. The whole au- 
thority of government seemed to be vested in the minister plenipo- 
tentiary of the emperor, count Belgioso. who had to contend alone 
against the formidable opposition that h • J sprung up; for not only 
the governors-general, as has been before intimated, were on the 
side of the people, but even the imperial minister, prince Kaunitz, 
who greatly disapproved the violent proceedings of his master. 

1 1. Josei)h at iir«t assumed an appearance of rigour and inllexibili- 
ty, in the pursuit of his new measures, Uttle suitable to the actual 
situation of atlairs. He had not foreseen so lormidable a resistance, 
and when it occurred, he depended too much on his means for sup- 
pressing it; embarrassed as he was at the time by the war with 
Turkey. After much threatening, therefore, and strong marks of 
displeasure against the Belgic stales, he found it advisable to com- 
promise matters, lor a time at least: or rather to olVer to relincjuish 
all the objectionable j)arts of his new system ; to re-establish the 
ancient constitution, contirm the celebrated charter, called />/ joy- 
ciise y;,Vi/rrf , and sul^nit to have the case referred to delegates on both 
sides. In this, however, he was not sincere, and his duplicity and 
arbitrary disposition becoming every day more maniiesl, it was 
impossible to prevent things coming to extremity. The example 
of France was contagious ; the whole population became divided 
into two parties of patriots and royalists, atul the former were 
soon found to be the strongest. In November, 1,789, the states de- 
clared their independencei, in consequence of a meeting held at 
Ghent; the soldiery began to take part with the people. On the 
26th of December, the states of Hrabant assumed the sovereign pow- 
er, in which they were soon lollowed by the states of the other 
provinces ; a federal union was formed, untler the title of the United 
belgic States, and n congress of deputies to administer the new gov- 
ernment, appointed to assemble on the 1 1th of January, 1,790. 

12. Thus were the low countries sacrificed to the injudicious and 
hasty measures of the emperor, who was too late rend(>red sensil)le 
of his errors, when he found them perfectly irreparable, either in 

Dd 40 



314 MODERN HISTORY. 

the way of conciliation or force. He lived to see his offers of peace 
and recoiiciliation rejected with scorn and contempt, wiiile he totally 
failed in his endeavours to procure the aid of foreign states to reduce 
his revolted subjects to obedience. In other parts of his dominions, 
particularly in Hungary, the same spirit of opposition to his plans 
nad been excited, and kept up by similar measures of irritation and 
defiance, till the lime of his decease drew near. He would then 
willingly have retraced hU steps, and did, indeed, take some meas- 
iires to conciliate the otfended Hungarians; but the termination of his 
life was fast approaching, hastened no doubt by the opposition and 
ill fortune which had attended almost the whole of his political career. 
He had weakened his constitution in all probability by ttie restlesa 
life he had led, and the hardships and fatigues to which he had ex- 
posed himself in the field ; but he suflered severely in his miud from 
the comse things had taken in the Netherlands, and though he exhib- 
ited in his last moments the fortitude, resignation, and composure 
of a true christian, yet it is truly melancholy to think that his whole 
reign was passed in rendering himself and others wretched. He 
expired on the 20lh of February, 1,790, in the forty-ninth year of 
his age ; and leaving no issue, was succeeded in his hereditary do- 
minions by his brother Leopold, who was also chosen emperor before 
the end of the year in which his brother died. 

13. The reign of the emperor Leopold II. was very short, and 
far from a happy one. His brother had lel't his dominions in a 
wretched state of discontent and contusion ; diminished, in some 
most important instances, ; , d pretty generally exposed to the attacks 
of formidable and designing enemies. Leopold had been able to do 
some good amongst his Tuscan subjects before he ascended the 
royal and imperial thrones, but his genius and talents were judged 
to be unequal to the government of a mighty empire. He soon 
gave satisfaction however, to the aching mitids of his new subjects, 
by restoring to many their ancient privileges, and revoking the in- 
judicious and irritating innovations ol his deceased brother. Nor did 
he manage his foreign negotiations ill, which, had they failed, might 
have involved him in inextricable difficulties. By tiattering the Lng- 
lish, and appearing to enter into their views in regard to Turkey 
and the Netherlands, he deterred the king of Prussia from prosecut- 
ing his designs upon Gallicia, which he wished to procure for Po- 
land, in exchange f'orDantzic and Thorn. Afterwards, by fomenting 
that monarch's resentment against England, who appeared to have 
abandoned him, he managed to form a union with the very court 
which at the commencement of his reign had manifested the great- 
est symptoms of rivalry and opposition. This accommodation with 
the king of Prussia greatly facilitated his accession to the imperial 
crown, which was conferred upon him, October 9, 1,790. 

14. By very tirm, but conciliatory behaviour towards the Hun- 
garians, who seem to have imbibed at this time many of the demo- 
cratic principles of the French, he not only efiectually ingratiated 
himself with the leading persons of the kingdom, but regained the 
affections of the people at large, which had been sadly alienated 
through his brother's unwise interference with their most favourite 
customs and established right*. 

15. Leopold did not so easily settle his disputes with the Nether- 
lands. The mediation of England, Holland, and Prussia, had been 
offered, but he rather inclined to rely on his own strength, and his 
connexions with France, which were every hour becoming moie 



MODERN HISTORY. 315 

uncertain and precarious. He had recourse therefore to force, and 
succeeded indsed in re-estabhshing the imperial authority, but total- 
ly detiiched from any cordial returns of loyalty on the part of the 
Belgians, which became but too apparent, when his subsequent dis- 
putes with the revolutionary government of France exposed those 
parts of the Austrian dominions to iVesh troubles and disturbances, 

16. The situation of the emperor Leopold, it must be granted, 
was very embarrassing in the tirst years of the French revolution. 
The constraint put upon the royal family of France, to which he 
.stood so nearly allied, and the threats denounced so openly against 
the queen his si>ter, in particular, must have greatly afiected his 
private feelings, while many of the German states, whose rights, 
ecclesiastical and territorial, guarantied by the peace of West- 

t)halia, had been invaded in Alsace, Franche Compte, and Lorraine. 
>y the decree of the national assembly, for abolishing the feudal 
Erivileges, pubhcly called upon him to interpose in their behalf, as 
end of the empire ; as he .-tood bound to do indeed by his capitula- 
tion with the diet, on receiving the imperial crown. In regard to 
the royal family of France, his tirst plans, in conjunction with the 
king ot^ Prussia, were clearly injudicious, and injurious to the cause 
he took in hand. The French revolutionists were not in a state to 
be intimidated by angry manitestoes or threats of foreign mterfe- 
rence. The emperor Himself, indeed, did often appear cautious of 
embroiling his country in a war with France, but was at length prob- 
ably provoked inlo it, by the violence of tne Jacobinical faction at 
Paris, rather than persuaded by the representations of the emigrant 
princes, or royal family at Paris, as was so strongly alleged. Beyond 
the alliance with Prussia, however, concluded on the lUlh of Febru- 
ary, 1,7'J 2, the emperor Leopold can scarcely be said to have had 
any share in the war with Fnmce ; for, on the 'JTth of that very 
month, he was seized with an illness, which in three days terminated 
Lis life, at the early age of forty-four, leaving his dominions in a 
state of more serious danger tlum when he began his reign. 

17. The emperor Leopold was succeeded in his hereditary states 
by his eldest son Francis, born in 1,708, who became emperor in 
the July following his father's death, and still reigns. This mon- 
arch had to begin those hostilities with Fnuice which his predeces- 
sor seems to have contemplated with considerable distrust, and 
he became a party to the too hasty proceedingp of his Prussian ally 
and the duke of Brunswick, who increased the irritation and pro- 
voked the resistance of the French, by menaces extremely impo- 
Ltic, considering the actual state of things. They endeavoured, in- 
deed, to throw the blame on the emigrant princes, who, it was 
alleged, had misled them by false representations of the good dispo- 
sjliou of the people in the interior of France. They expected to 
find a large majority ready to co-operate with them in the overthrow 
of the, ruling faction. 

18. iXhe emperor soon found himself in a very awkward situa- 
tion. Instead of invading France with any effect.' he had the mor- 
titication to see his own dominions invaded by tlie French, under 
a general (Dumourier), who had boasted that he would subdue 
the Austrian ISetherlands before the end of the year; an engage- 
ment which he in a great measure fultiiled, through the disaffection 
of the Belgians, who were ready enough to throw olf the Austrian 
yoke, heedless that they were in the way of having another imme- 
diately imposed upon them still more galling and vexatious. In the 



316 MODERN HISTORY 

month of November, 1,792. all subjection to the imperial authority 
was openly renounced in the very capital ot' the i\etberlancls, and 
the French allowed to enter the city in triumph. While these things 
were going on in Flanders, Germany itself was invaded by the French 
general, Custine, Mentz taken, and heavy contributions levied in the 
lo'.vns of Worms and Frankfort. 

19. Early in the year 1,793, the Austrians under general Clair- 
fait and the prince of Saxe Coburg, obtained advantages over the 
French, at Aix-la-Chapelle, which were followed by the capture 
of the towns of Valenciennes and Conde, in conjunction with the 
British army under the command of the duke of Yoik. A separa- 
tion of the two armies afterwards took place, which was attended 
>vitli unpleasant circumstances, and seems to have liapponed very 
contrary to the de^^ire and wislies of the Austrian commanders. 
Tne troops under the dnl;e laid siege to Dunkirk, but were unsuc- 
cessful in their attempts against the place, being obliged to abandon 
the undertaking with the loss of the greatest part of their artillery 
and stores. 

20. In the year 1,794, the allied armies again acted in conjunction 
against the French under general Pichegrn, the emperor himself 
having joined the camp, but (he overwhelming power of the French 
baffled ail their attempts to del'end the Netherlands, which fell en- 
tirely into the hands ot the enemy. 

21. The share which the emperor Francis II. had in the final 
dismemberment of Poland, 1,795, will be shewn in the history of 
that unhappy country. The king of Prussia having gained great 
advantages by this transaction, declined any longer assisting the allies 
against France, and in open violation of bis engagements with Eng- 
land, made a peace with the French government April 5, 1,795, to 
the great disgust of the coni'ederates. 

I'Z. The contests between the armies of Germany and France, 
in ihe years 1,79G, 1,797, were carried on with the greatest vigour, 
skill, and bravery^ on the Rhine, in Suabia, in the Tyrol, and in 
Italy. In l,79ij, tne archduke Charles, brother of the emperor, 
acquired great glory by checkir)g the progress of the two celebrat- 
ed French generals, Jourdan and Moreau : and, though compelled 
to retire beti/re Buonaparte, in 1,797, and to subscribe to the peace 
of Campo-Fonnio, as will be related elsewhere, his credit wiih the 
army remained undiminished, and his reputation as a general unim- 
paired. (Jn the renewal of the war in 1,799, at the instigation of 
the T'ieapoiitan court, the Austrians were assisted by the Russian.', 
and at the close of the eighteenth century, the tide ol affairs seemed 
to be turning greatly against the French, when a new revolution in 
the lluctu;tting government of that disturbed people, suddenly chang- 
ed the lace of things, as will be shewn in our continuation of the 
history of France. 

SECTION XII. 

TRANCE, FROM THE OPENING OF THE ASSExMBLY OF THE 
STATES-GENER.\L, 1,789, TO THE DEATHS OF THE KING 
AND QUEEN, 1,793. 

1. The states-general met, May 5, 1,789. The king's speech has 
been much admired, as the address of an upright, humane, and 



MODERN HISTORY. 317 

patriotic prince, to a respectable assemblage of his subjects, by 
whose political and legislative exertions he hoped to improve the 
state of the nation. Ti»e nobles and clergy had expressed a willing- 
ness to forego their pecuniary privileges, but there were other 
grounds upon which tney seemed likely to be at variance with the 
third estate. The latter were lor obUterating all traces of distinc- 
tion in their legislative capacity ; while the Ibrmer were so impru- 
dent as to take some steps, not only indicative of an invincible attach- 
ment to such distinctions, but bearing an air of arrogance and defi- 
ance in them, ill suited to the times. The very costume adopted on 
the occasion was calculated to render the representatives of the 
commonalty almost ridiculous in the eyes ot their countrymen. 
The nobles and clergy were distinguiihed by robes peculiarly rich 
and brilliant ; but the whole of tlie third estate were directed to 
appear in the common and antiquated black dress of the members of 
the law, though of various callings and professions. As soon, how- 
ever, cLS the commons had verified their powers and were prepared 
to act, without waiting for the concurrence of the other two orders, 
it was proposed by aM. Le Grand, and seconded by the Abbe Sleyes, 
to call their meeting the ^^ .\'cUional Assembly,'''' as forming a national 
representation one and iiulkisible. This was eagerly adopted by 
a majority of the members, but objected to by the king ; at length, 
however, some of the clergy and nobles having joined the third estate^ 
the king himself condescended to approve and sanction the union, a 
matter of great triumph to the popular parly, and which, in fact, 
made them the arbiters of the destiny of I ranee. 

2. On the 11th of July, 1,789, the king thought it necessary to 
dismiss M. Necker; many tumults and insuirections were the con- 
sequence of this unpopular proceeding; the/llastiler state prison, 
once crowded with tlie victims of arbitrary pmVer, but at this mo- 
ment, and under the mild reign of Lewis \\ I., almost empty, «v;i3 
besieged by the mob. taken, and razed to the ground^ After mmy 
tumults of this kind, the king judged it expedient to comply with 
the wishes of his people, and to recall the discarded minister; he 
was also induced by circumstances, to vield to another demand of 
more importance, namely, the dismissal of all his troops fiom the 
environs of Paris and Versailles. In the meanwhile, the marquis de 
la Fayette, who had been engaged in America, and there imbibed a 
spirit of liberty, was fixed upon to take the command of the new 
militia or city guard, .\larmed at the appearance of things at this 
period, many nobles, and even one of the ki:ig''s brothers, left the 
Kiogdoin. This ha<l undoubtedly a bad ctTect; it not only left the 
king more exposed to the violence of faction, but seemed to betoken 
a disregard oi the liberties of their country, and a settled purpose of 
invoking foreign aid. 

o. The national assembly soon divided itself into two i)arties ; 
liie aristncruts, or such as not only lavoured royally, but to a cer- 
tain extent, the privileged orders, nobles, and clergy; imd the 
deiiiocnUs^ or advocates of tVeedoui ; the sworn enemies of all op- 
pressive and distinct privileges; they were also distinguished into 
royaiisU and pulr'wts. Anumg the former we may reckon the inod- 
erales, whose speeches in the assembly are justly to be admired, 
for their extreme good sense and rational politics. Of the no'oles, 
it should be observed, that the most obnoxious were those who 
Ijad purchased their nobility, amounting to many tJiousands. Of 
the ancient, and hereditary uobiUty there were, it \va^ cotnpui- 
JDd2 



313 MODERN HISTORY. 

ed, not more than itwp- hundred famiiiesiin the whole kingdom 
when the revolution Tjegan, nor were their privileges and exemp- 
tions by any means so gieat as was pretended. It was soon seen 
which party was the mobt powerful; on the 4th of August, 1,789, 
decrees were pas-sed, as if with the full consent of the whole as- 
sembly, for the .'.boiition of the piiviieges of the nobles and clergy, 
provinces and towns; while persons of every rank and description 
were pronounced to be ehgible to all civil, military, and ecclesi- 
astical appointments. The royal family were exposed to horrible 
insults and intligriities at V'ersailles, aiul at length almost forcibly 
conveyed to Faris; in consequence of which removal, the assem-. 
bly also adjourned its sittings to the capital, a fatal step to takej, 
as it couid not but expose them to the tyranny of a faction, and 
the fury of the Parisian mob. Among the measures adopted at 
this period, the most important were those which placed all 
church property at the di-posal of the nation, dissolved all monas- 
tic establishments, feudal privileges and right:--, and suppressed the 
provincial parliaments anu assemblies, by artfully dividing the king- 
dom into 8.i departments, the work of the Abbe Sieyes; by this act 
the very name of province was obliterated from the Trench vocabu- 
lary, and with it all pecular rights, laws, and jurisdictions ; all pro- 
vincial governors, commandants, sub-delegates, presidents, and tri- 
bunals of election ; mayors, echevins, jurats, courts of aid, chan)bers 
of accounts, k.c. Every tiling was at this time transacted in the way 
of violence and destruction ; every law voted by acclamation, with 
little patience and less judgment ; thus, when it was proposed to 
abolish ail titles and hereditary disiinctions, armorial bearings, live-, 
ries, &,c. the democrats would scarcely suner the question to be de- 
bated, and it was carried by a large majoi'ity, though so many mem- 
bers of the assembly must have been deeply affected by it. 

4. The national assembly was slow in pi'eparing a constitutional- 
code, particularly in deciding upon the three following questions. 
Whether such assemblies should be permanent or periotlical 1 com- 

Eosed of one or two chambers? and whether the king's tJtto should 
e absolute or suspensive 1 While these things were in agitation, the 
king bad attempted to rescue himself from the trammels imposed 
upon liimi by a timely escape from Paris ; but he was stopped on his 
journey, and compelled to return. ) At length the assembly terminat- 
ed its labours ; a constitutional act was prepared and presented to 
the khig, of which, after an interval of ten days, he declared his ac- 
ceptance. Had he been free, it is impossible that he could have 
given his sanction to a measure which subjected the monarch to the 
will of a domineering assembly, and was ill-calculated to repress the 
efforts and designs of a licentious and restless laction. The assembly, 
however, having thus completed its task, was dissolved by the king 
on thetSUth day of September, 1,79 ij being succeeded by another 
convention, denominated "the legislative assembly," whose delibera- 
tions were confined to the space only of one year; none of the 
members of the former assembly being eligible to the latter. 

5. In the year 1,79)2, Austria and I'russia, in consequence of a 
declaration and agreement (according to all accounts imprudent) 
determined iipon at Pilnitz, in the preceding year, began to inter- 
fere in behalf of the king and royal lami.'y, but so far from alarm- 
ing the revolutionary party in France, their interposition seemed 
only to have the effect of instigating it to acts of greater violence 
aad more determined courage. Wiu' was without scruple declared 



MODERN HISTORY, 31« 

against the king of Hungary and Bohemia, in the month of April, 
and every preparation made to resist all counter revolutionary 
projects. Sweden and Russia had shewn a strong disposition also to 
inlexfere; bufefthe assassination of the Swedish monarch, Gustavus 
III.J in 1,792,'^Tmtf the distance of Russia from France, prevented 
both those countries engaging in actual hostilities. ' In the mean 
time, Paris became a scene of dreadful confusion ; every day some 
new faction seemed to arise to bafde the attempts of those who 
had yet wisdom or temperance enough to prevent things coming to an 
extremity. The legislature was at the mercy of the Parisian clubs, 
and of the mobs, too freely admitted into the galleries of the assem- 
bly. The king was insuUed in the grossest manner for having ven- 
tured to interpose his suspensive negative to the passing of two 
severe decrees ; one against those who had emigrated, and tlia 
other against the clergy who declined taking the civic oath. M. la 
Fayette, who had been appointed to take the command of the army, 
wrote from his camp to admonish the national representatives to res- 
cue the country and the king from the factious designs of the enrag- 
ed jacobins ; but in vain ; it served only to exasperate still more the 
anti-royalisis, and to bring fresh troubles on the royal I'amily. The 
design of the factious seems to have been, either to intimidate the king 
to a degree of abject submi.-jsion, or to provoke him to act against the 
constitution in a manner that might render him liable to llie ven- 
geance of the people. The march of the Prussian army, and a 
threatening manifesto issued by its commander, the duke of Bruns- 
wick, irritated the violent party into a frantic determination to abolish 
royalty. The king was supposed, or represented, to be cont'edemte 
with the enemy, and deeply engaged in a plot with his emigrant 
brothers and relatives, to counteract the revolution. 

6.vA dreadful attack was made on the palace in the month of 
August, the particulai-s of which are too disgusting to dwell upon ; 
but it completed the triumph of the demagogues ; lor in compelhng 
the king's guards to act on their defence, they had rt in their power 
to charge the kin^ himself with having made war upon his pecmle. 
Nothing was now nc.ird but the cry of "liberty and equality."' The 
" chief of the executive power,'" as they chose to denominate his maj- 
esty, was formally suspended from hi>< functions, and, under the pre- 
teiice o[ guardianship^ committed with his queen and family to the 
temple. 

7. The assembly appeared from this moment to be as much in 
the power of the faction as the king. The period has been too 
ustly distinguished by the appropriate title of^the reign of terror./ 
The execrable Robespierr^was in reality at tfeliead of affairs, and 
u would be impossible adequately to describe the atrocities of his 
merciless career, it would exceed the Ihnits of this work to enter 
far into particular details. La Fayette abandoned the army, as 
unwiiling to sors-e under such masters; his comluct has been ar- 
raigned, as reflecting at once upon his loyalty, his patriotism, and 
his courage ; it was thought that with the army so much at his 
disposal as it seemed to be, had his principles been such as he pre- 
tended, he v.ould have marched back to Paris, and saved his coun- 
try and his king from the ruin with which tliey were threatened. 
In the meanwhile the combined troops of Austria and Pn.issia were 
approaching the frontiers ; differences subsisted in the army ; nor 
was general Dumourier, who had succeeded to the command on 
the retirement of La Fayette, generally conlided in, either by Uie 



320 MODERN HISTORY. 

army or the faction. To lessen the number of aristocrats, many 
suspected of belonging to that party were hurried to prison, where, 
without scruple, and with such baibarity as is not to be paralleled 
in the records of history, they were almost all assassinated, to the 
amount, as it has been estimated, of'not less than five thousand.^ 
This liappening on the second of September, all who were con- 
cerned in it, as principals or abettors, were denominated Septem- 
brizers. 

8. These were but preludes to a catastrophe, if possible, still 
more shocking ; a murder perpetrated with a studied deliberation, 
and with all the mockery of legal forms and ceremonies. However 
hastened by the hostile approach of the confederate powers, and 
the injudicious threats ihey threw out in case any violence should 
be otlered to the king's person, nothing could possibly excuse the 
perversion of justice, and gross inhumanity which marked the trials 
of the king and queen ; nothing exceed the melancholy circumstan- 
ces of their imprisonment and execution! On the llth of Decem- 
ber, l,792y the king appeared before the convention, to hear the 
charges preferred against him. *■• Vou are accused," said the 
president, "• by the French nation, of having committed a multitude 
of crimes, for the purpose of re-establishing your tyranny by tiie 
destruction of liberty." He then entered into a few particulars. 
The king, with great dignity, replied, "■ No existing laws prohibit- 
ed me from doing as I did ; I had no wish to injure my subjects, no 
intention of shedding their blood." Further accusations were 
pressed upon him, tVom which he defended himself with the same 
firmness and simplicity of language, the same coolness and intre- 
pidity of mind. He declared boldly, that his conscience fully ac- 
quitted him of tJie things laid to his charge, and appealed to the 
w hole course of his beliaviour and carriage towards them as king, 
to exonerate himself from the horrid imputation of. having been 
eager and ready to shed the blood of his people. This charge, in- 
deed, rested solely on the events of the 10th of August, when the 
rabble broke into the palace of the Tuilleries, and not only men- 
aced the hves of the king and his family, but are allowed to have 
begun the sanguinary part of the contiicl, by the murder of five of 
his Swiss guards. It was not till after this event that the rest of 
these taithtul adherents fired upon the aggressors, and drew upon 
themselves the vengeance that terminated so fatally, for they were 
all destroyed. 

9. It having been resolved that the judgment and decision of the 
case should rest with tlie national representatives, the convention 
met on the 15th of January, 1,793, to discuss the question of the 
king's guilt, upon the charges so loosely and so maliciously brought 
against him, when it appeared that only thirty-seven were disposed 
to think favourably of his conduct. Six hundred and eighty-three 
members, with little or no hesitation, some, indeed, with the most 
cruel eagerness and exultation, pronounced him guilty. An attempt 
was made to procure a rei'erence of this matter to the people ; but 
it was over-ruled by a majority of one hundred and thirty-nine. 

10. Having determined the qviestion of his guilt, that of his pun- 
ishment became the next subject of discussion. It was proposed 
to decide between detention, banishment, and death. After a de- 
bate, in which the amiable monarch seemed to be regarded by many 
as despotism persv.nitled, no less than three hundred and sixty-one, 
or, according to some accounts, three hundred and sixtv-six members. 



MODERN HISTORY. 321 

voted peremptorily for death ; and on a further question, whether 
the execution of the sentence should be suspended or take place 
immediately, the votes for the latter amounted to three hundred and 
eighty against three hundred and ten. The king was to be informed 
of the result of their proceedings, and to suffer death in twenty-four 
hours afterwards. The advocates for the king were allowed to 
address the assembly, and to move an appeal to the people, but with- 
out effect. On the motion of Robespierre, the decree was pro- 
nounced irrevocable, and the king's defenders debarred from any 
further hearing. 

11. On the\flst of January! his majesty, having previously taken 
leave of his rainily, and performed the services of devotion, was 
conveyed to the place of execution ; nothuig could exceed the 
pious resignation with which he submitted to the cruel and unjust 
sentence which doomed him to death, and during his passage to the 
square of the revolution, where the guillotine was erected, he be- 
trayed no symptoms of fear or anger. On the scaffold, he manifest- 
ed a strong desire to address the Crowd ; but the drums were made 
to sound louder, and he was rudely bidden to be silent ; in a moment 
after, his head was severed from his body, and shewn to the people 
as the head of a tyrant and a traitor ! 

12. History, both public and private, has borne ample testimony 
to the falsehood of the charges brought against him ; every nation 
in Europe concurred in condemning the conduct of the French regi- 
cides ; and though, in exciting the resentment of fresh enemies, 
England and Spain particularly, it threatened the luin of the new 
republic; it appeared by no means to have satisfied the blood-thirsty 
vengeance of the ruling facUon. The democratic, or republicai» 
party, had long been spliL intr/two divisions, and their .opposition to 
each other seemed at, this timP'to be at the heiglit. (Brissot, who 
headed the Girondists} (so called from the department of Gironde^ 
which some of that side represented,) was still aUve ; Robespierre, 
Danton, and Marat, directed the movements of the opposite faction; 
for some time previously called the Monntahij from the dcvaied seats 
they occupied in the hall of the conventionTS' 

13. It seemed now to be a question vvhrctf of these turbulent par- 
ties should ol)tain the ascendancy ; and a contest of this nature was 
not likely to be decided without a mucli larger effusion of blood. 
" The reign of terror"" still continued, and many more victims were 
preparing for tlie stroke of that fatal instrument, which seemed to 
nave been timely invented for the quick and incessant course of 
decapitation and destruction now adopted. Had any thing been capa- 
ble of producing domestic union, it might have been expected, from 
the formidable confederacy of foreign powers, armed against the na- 
tion ; for, in addition to Austria and Prussia, England, Spain, and 
Portugal, were at open war with France ; while a royalist party had 
arisen within its own confines, of rather a formidable description, 
considering the strength of the enemies without, and the disti'acteu 
state of the government. 

14. Though such was the situation of the country, with regard 
J^ foreign ^powers, and royalists at home, the struggle between the 

Girondists and RobespieiTean faction was carried on at Paris with 
the utmost violence and precipitation; but the Mountain prevailed.) 
The leaders of the Brissotines were arrested and confined in the 
month of May, and on the 31st of October following, all executed. 
Brissot himself saw sixteen of his party guillotined before it came to 

41 



322 MODERN HISTORY. 

his turn, and four were beheaded afterwards. Many of them were 
persons of considerable talents, and not destitute of private virtues, 
had they lived in less turbulent and trying times. 

15. Horrible as this execution must nave been, one still more 
appalling had engaged the attention of the people, on the same spot, 
only fifteen days before. Loaded with insults, and deprived of every 
possible comfort or consolation, "• the widow of Lewis Capet," as 
they chose to call their queen, (a princess of Austria, and daughter 
of the high-minded Maria Theresa,) had not been suffered to enjoy 
one moment of repose from the day of the king's execution ; prep- 
arations were soon after made for her own trial, which, if possible, 
■was conducted in a manner still more revolting to every feeling 
mind, than that which had been adopted in the case of her unhappy 
consort. Her guilt and her punishment were as soon decided upon ; 
but even after this sad act of vengeance and injustice, shocking circum- 
stances of ignominy, degradation, and persecution took place, scarce- 
ly to be credited as the acts of any portion of a people at all advanced 
in civilization ; she was cast into a dungeon, and delivered into the 
custody of a gaoler seemingly selected on purpose to insult over 
her misfortunes, find aggravate her sufl'erings. On the dreadful day 
of her execution, she was conveyed to the scaffold in a common cart, 
with her hands tied behind her, amid the brutal shouts of an infuriat- 
ed populace. Thus died, in the 38th year of her age, the queen- 
of one of the greatest kingdoms of the earth ; a princess, who, 
though not entirely free from faults, had, till this fatal revolution, 
lived in all the splendour and luxury of a court, the marked object, 
not only of admiration and adulation, but ot homage so profound, and, 
i a some instances so senile and e«s>i£!/i?»^, as to palliate and account 
for all the errors of her short, but evenilul life, 



SECTION XIII. 

GREAT BRITAIN, FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE AMERI- 
CAN WAR, 1,783, TO THE PEACE OF AMIENS, 1,802. 

1. F^OM the peace of V^ersailles, in 1,783, to the commencement 
of the year 1,793, Great Britain kept free from war, though not 
without some disputes with ibreign powers, and occasional calls 
upon her to interpose, as an ally or mediatrix, in the affairs of other 
states, Holland particularly. Soon alter the termination of the 
American war, extraordinary changes in the administration took 
place. The ministry that negotiated the peace, at the head of 
which was the earl of Shelburne, was displaced, and succeeded by 
what was called the cotdiiion ministry, tVom the extraordinary cir- 
cumstance of Mr. Fox and lord North becoming joint secretaries of 
state, after an opposition peculiarly animated, and a positive declara- 
tion on the part of the former, that they differed so in 2^1'inciple as to 
render such an union lor ever impracticable. 

2. The unpopularity of such an apparent dereliction of principle, 
as might reasonably be expected, rendered their continuance in 
power extremely precarious, and it was not long before their re- 
moval was effected, in consequence of a bill brought into parlia- 
ment by Mr. Fox, to regulate the affairs of India. The measure 
was judged to be fraught with danger to the constitution, by throw- 
ing too much power into the hands of a board of commissioners, to 



MODERN HISTORY. 323 

be chosen by parliament, and though it passed the commons, it was 
thro>vn out by the lords, and the ministry dismissed. 

S.iJIr. Pitt, a younger son of the great lord Chatham, now came 
into power, not in any subordinate situation, but as premier, though 
at the early age of twenty-four, and under circumstances peculiarly 
embarrassing, for he had long to contend against a majority of the 
house of commons, who threatened to stop the supplies, and elTect 
his removal, as not enjoying the confidence of the people. I'his 
being jutlged too great an interlerence with the prerogative, and 
many addresses being presented to the king to retain him in his 
service, the parliament was at length dissolved, and the issue turned 
out to be extremely favourable to the choice of his majesty. 

4. The affairs of India manifestly requiring the interposition of 
government, Mr. Pitt, as soon as possible, procured a bill to that 
effect to be passed, according to which a board of control was to be 
appointed, not by parliament, but by the crown. Though this in- 
creased in sonie degree the influence of the latter, it was judged to 
be far less hazardous than the proposal of Mr. Fox, which threatened 
to throw such a power into the hands of the minister and his friends, 
as might enable them to overawe the sovereign, and render their 
removal almost impracticable. Mr. Pitta's bill, also, was found to in- 
terfere far less with the chartered rights of the company. It passed 
the lords, August 9, 1,784. 

5. Another measure of considerable importance occupied the at- 
tention of the minister, during the year 1,786, which was expected 
to contribute greatly to the support of public credit. This was the 
establishment of a new sinking fund, by appropriating the annual 
sum of one million, to be invariably applied to the liquidation of the 
public debt. At a subsequent period, a sinking fund of still greater 
importance was established, by which every future loan was to 
carry with it its own sinking fund. This was proposed to the house 
in 1 792, and readily adopted ; it consisted in raising one per cent., 
besides the dividends upon every new stock created, to be applied 
by the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, in the 
same manner, and under the same regulations as the original mil- 
lion.* 

6. From the commencement of the year 1,786, to the year 1,795, 
the attention of the British parliament was in a very extraordinary 
manner occupied with the charges brought against Mr. Hastings, 
governor-general of Bengal, in February, 1,786. Mr. Burke, whose 
mind had been long affected by the abuses practised in India, by 
the servants of the company, had appeared tor some time to have 
fixed his eye upon Mr. Hastings, as a fit object of prosecution ; and 
he now moved for papers to substantiate the charges upon which 
he meant to impeach him. These charges being^ discussed in par- 
liament, during the session of 1,787, and referred to a committee, 
were confirmed by the house of commons, on the 9th of May, and 
tlie articles of impeachment exhibited to the house of lords, on the 

j 14th; in consequence of which Mr. Hastings was taken into cus- 
]_tody, but, on the motion of the lord chancellor, admitted to bail. 
j The trial did not commence till February 15, 1,788, was continued 
I. not only through the whole of that parliament, though very slowly, 
but after much debate, determined to be pending on the commencc- 
j * By this provision every loan would have its own fund, which would 
t operate at compound interest, and discharge the debt in forty-seven years 
j at the longest, from the time it was first incurred. 



S24 MODERN HISTORY. 

ment of the new par lament, 1,790, and not brought to a conclusion 
tillthemonthof April, 1,795. . , , , „ j- 

7 The question whether the impeachment ahated on the dis- 
solution of parliament, appearing to involve a constitutional point 
of the highest importance, was discussed with singular attonlion, 
and a large display of legal and parliamentary knowledge. 1 he 
law members of boih houses were never perhaps so divided in their 
opinions; but the numerous precedents cited by Mr. Titt seemed 
cfearly to decide the question as follows : that though legislative 
processes are abated by prorogation or dissolution, il is not so with 
regard to judicial proceedings. It appeared to be a nice and curious 
question, and, as atlecting the responsibility of ministei-s, its decision 
may be regarded as singularly important. 

8. Though in the course of the proceedings and prosecution of 
the various charges against Mr. Hastings, the eloquence of the 
managers exceeded all that could have been expected, yet never 
perhaps were so great talents employed with less success ; a triiil of 
such seeming importance, so strangely protracted ; or a case of 
impeachment brought to an issue so little answerable to the expec- 
tations that had been excited. It would I»e iuipossible to deny that 
flagrant and enormous abuses had been commitled in India during 
the period in question, yet, the very length of the trial made it ap- 
pear to most persons in the light ol a j>( rseardoii, and that ot im in- 
dividual to whom the company and the oiilion stood highly indebted 
for many eminent services. As it ended in the acquittal ot' I\lr. Has- 
tings, that gentleman may be presumed innocent. One good, how- . 
ever, seems to have arisen from the investigation ; all succeeding 
governors-general have certainly been more circumspect and correct 
in their proceedings. 

9. In the course of the year 1,787, great disturbances having 
taken place in the united provinces, fomented by the French, and 
threatening the di-^solution ot" the stadlboldeiate, an alliance was 
formed between the courts of St. James's and Berlin, lo protect the 
rights of the prince of Orange, and resist the interlerence of the 
French. Preparations lor war took place, but the Prus>ian army • 
decided matters without any active co-operation on the part of 
Great Britain. The alarming state of things in France, appeared j 
to deter the court of Versailles from rendering that assistance to 
the malecontents of Holland, which the latter had been taught to 
expect 

10. During the cession of 1,788, the attention of the house of 
commons was first called to the horrible ciicum'^tances attending ' 
the African slave-trade. It is quite sur|)rising that such a tralhc 
should have been so long carried on, without exciting the resent- * 
ment of every sensible mind, and disgusting the feelings of a civil- 
ized people ; unfortunately, when first noticed, it w:is lound to be' 
so deeply interwoven with the interests of our .settlements in the 
West Indies, and to depend so much on Ibreign states, as well as 
our own, as to render it almost necessary to proceed slowly and 
cautiously, though it was impossible not to be horror-struck with I 
the information laid before the house, particularly in regard to I 
what was called the middle-passage, or transportation of the unhap J 
py Africans, from their native shores to the several island.s. As it] 
would be inconsistent with the nature of such a uork as the present, 
to enter into the detail of the proceedings upon this very interesting^/ 
subject, which took up a long time, and can scarcely now be said to 



MODERN HISTORY. 325 

be terminated, it may be sutticient to note, that, after continual re- 
newals of the subject in the two houses of parliament, yet, owing to 
many uiitovvard circumstances, it was not rinally abolisjjed till the 
year 1.80G,Tior has it even yet been in the power of any ministry, 
or any of our diplomatists, eft'ectually to prevent the trade, as cart 
ried on by foreign states, though every person of humane t'oelings 
must devoutly wish and desire that it should be so. It must, how- 
ever, always redound to the credit of our own counlty. tliat the 
voice of compassion and mercy was tii-st heard amongst us, and that 
the first arm stretched out to save and to rescue a large proportion 
of our lellow-creatures from the mo«t abject slavery and cruel tor- 
tures that ever were inflicted, was the arm of a Briton. 

11. The parliament being prorogued on the 1 llh of July. 1.788, 
to the 20th of November, was compelled to meet on. the ilay ap- 
pointed, by circumstances of a most distressing kitui. Mis majesty, 
probably through excess of business, to which he was known \o 
devote more time and labour than could well be consilient with 
bis health, was seized with an illness which totally incapacitated 
him from discharging the functions of his high and exalted stHlion. 
It must appear strange, that by the laws and constitution of the 
realm, so little provision had been made for a catastrophe by no 
mean*! out of the line of nrobability, that it became a question into 
what hands the suspended executive had devolved, and this led, as 
might be expected, to very warm and import.uit debates in parlia- 
ment. Though the prince of Wales, being of full age, did not person- 
ally claim the" regency as matter of right, bis parly did. The min- 
ister, Mr. Pitt, contended that it belongetl to parliament to supply 
the deficiency ; and this question being stated, it wa-^ judged expe- 
dient to debate it, and settle it by vote. The decision upon this 
occasion was entirely in fivour of the power of ])arliamf'nt to 
appoint the regent, none doubting, however, that the heir apparent 
was the lit object of such appointment. Other questions were 
agitated at the same time, of ecjual importance ; parlirularly how 
far restrictions could be imposed by parliament, in regard to the ex- 
ercise of prerogatives, the -jiltole of whirb were reasonably enough 
supposed to be essential to the government of the country. This 
question also was decitled in favour of the minister, who bad proposed 
restrictions, with an understanding, however, that they could only 
apply to a temporary suspension of the kingly p<nver. In this case 
also, the care of the king s person was assigned not to the regent, but 
to the queen. One great dilbcully remained after all the discussions 
«])on the regency. It was doubted how the lord chancellor could 
be empowered t<» put the great seal to a commission for opening the 
sessions of parliament, so as to restore '^ the etiicacy of legislation ;" 
it was decided that be might be directed to do it in the name of the 
king, by authority of the two bouses. 

12. Fortunately for the public, this first illness of bis majesty 
was of 90 short duration, as to render unnecessary all the changes 
that had been contemplated. Farly in the year 1.7!i!<, the lord 
chancellor was able to announce to the houses of parliament, the 
perfect recovery of the king. Nothing could exceed the transports 
of joy with which this intelligence wiis received throughout the 
whole kingdom. A national thanksgiving was appointed, and his 
majesty went himself in great slate to St. PauPs, to ofl'er up his 
gratet'ul devotions on the event. The illuminations on the occasion 
were so general, that it is probable, from the accounts given of 

Ee 



326 MODERN HISTORY. 

them, that scarcely a cottage in the most remote Darts of the island 
was without its show of loyalty ami atiection. The appearuiice ot 
the metropolis, in particular, was most extraordinary, ami notwith- 
standing the immense concourse of people that continued ahnost tlie 
whole night in the streets, and the crowilcd throng ol" carriages and 
horses, so strong a disposition was shown by all ranks ;inil descriplioiw 
of persons to conduct things peaceably, that fewer accident:> occurred 
than were ever known before in similar c;ises. 

13. It should be noted, as a matter of general history, that had 
not his majesty recovered so opportunely, dilhculties ol an extraor- 
dinary nature might have ensued, from iiie dilVerent proceedings ol 
the two legislatures of Great liritain and Irtliind. While in the 
former it was decided that the prince could not a>sume the regency, 
as matter of right, and that the parliament had a power to iainose 
restrictions, in Ireland, his right appeared to be acknowledged by 
the two houses agreeing to address liim, to take upon him immediately 
the government of that kingdom, during the king's Incapacity, utid 
wilh the usual powers of royalty. 

14. In the ye;u- 1,789, the proceedings in France began to occuny 
the attention of Europe, and of England in particular. A struggle for 
freedom seemed to be so congenial to the spirit of the people of the 
latter country, that it is not to be wondered that the commencement 
of so extraordinary a revolution should excite the strongest sensa- 
tions. Unfortunately the abuses in the Trench government were so 
many, and some of them so entirely contrary to every |)rin(iple of 
reason and equity, that it soon became apparent that nothing less 
than a radical change, and revolution of every existing institution 
and establishment, would satisfy the disturbed minds of Ujat volatile 

Eeople ; minds unhappily prepared not niertdy to re-ist oppr«"^ioij, 
ut to throw olf every restraint o[ religion and morality. .Such an 
example, thcrelbro, required to be watclied and gtiarded against, in 
a country whose free constitution t^upplied its own means of n for- 
mation in every case of necessity, ;md where tumultuary proceedings 
could only lead to ends the most fatal arid dtj^lurable. Mr. I'itt 
seemed aware of this, and though bis measures ot precaution were 
supposed occasionally to press too hardly on the liberty of the sub- 
ject, it must be admitted that a very improper intercourse was at 
limes carried on between the several popalar associations in England 
and Ireland, and the national assembly of France. The object of 
the latter, in its replies to the addresses presented to it, being, accord- 
ing to all reasonable interpretation of the terms used, to invite and 
encourage the discontented of all countries to follow their example, 
which was every day becoming more violent and anarrliic:d. 
This was not all; emissaries were employed to j)ropagate their 
principles in other countries, many of whoin came to England, and 
^mct wilh an encouragement not to be overlooked by a government 
properly sensible oi' the dangers to be incurred by anv adoption of 
such sentiments and principles, in a country so very di'llerently titu- 
ated trom that of France. England had long ago done for Herself 
what France was now attempting ; and though no such changes and 
revolutions can be expected to lake place without some violence, 
yet England had panned through thin ordeal^ and accomplished her 
point a whole century before France began to assert her liberties. 
It was little less th;ui an insult to every true Englishman, therefore, 
to attempt to stir him up to such violent proceedings as had already 
been countenaoced und siuiclioned by the French revolutionisU; but 



MODERN HISTORY. 327 

that such attempt? were making, could not but be too obviou?. On 
the 19lh ot" November, 1,7;«L>. the national assembly paissed a decree, 
that they would grant fraternity and assistance to all who might wish 
to recover their liberty. This was two months after they had pro- 
claimed the eternal abolition of royalty, and imprisoned tlie king; atier 
they had declared hnreditary nobilitv to be incompatible with a free 
state ; and thus, by implicat'nni, declared that Kngland and most of 
the other states of Europe were not free. It w;is altprwiirds proved, 
by their own acknowledj»ment. that before any declaration of war, 
more than a million sterling had been sent to Et)gland from the 
national treasury of Krance. fur purposes strictly revolutionary. 
No country was tree from these political disturbers ; even general 
^Va^hington, as pn>sident of the L'niled .States of .\merica, was 
obliged to publish letters patent, to withdi-aw his countenance from 
the accredited French ministers in that country, who had grossly 
insulted him as head of the executive government. 

l.j. In the year 1,7"JU, an unpleasant dispute arose between the 
courts of St. James's ;uid .Madrid, which had nearly involved the 
two countries in a war. It related to a settlement on the north- 
western coast of America, which had been attempted by some sub- 
jects of (ireat iJritain, at Nootka Sound, fur the carrying on a fur 
trarle with ("hina. The Spani.irds, conceiving this tu be an inva'^ion 
of their rights, under a claim to these distant regions the mo-it ex- 
travagant and absurd, with great precipitation attack«'d the Ijiglish 
settled there, took the Ibrt which had been erected with the consent 
of the Indians, and seized upon the vessel. It was not possible to 
pass over so groat an outrage ; but by the vigorous and tiraclv prep- 
arations made to procure reparation, and the little hope of assist- 
ance to be derived t'rom France, in case things •■hould come to ex- 
tremities, the Spanish court was brought to terms betbre the expira- 
tion of the year; and not only every point in dispute ceded to the 
I-jiglish, but many advantages granted with regard to the navigation 
of the I'acific ocean. 

Iti. Ill the course of the same year, the British court interlercd 
successfully to restore peace between .\uslria and Turkey, and 
was t'urther instrumental, though not without some hindnuires, in 
reducing the revolted Netherlands to the dominion and authority 
of the Ibrmer power. Her attempts to mediate between Kussi'a 
and the I'orte, were by no means so successtui, and had nearly, in- 
deed, involved the nation in war, for an object of very little im- 
portance in the eyes of the Dublic at large, though tfie minister 
seemed to tliiiik otbervvi-^e. In coiwrtpiencc, however, of the op- 
position ho iiu;t with, he was induced to lorego the plan he had in 
view, of preventing lius-<ia g-'ttiug pos«es«.iun of the town of Ocza- 
kow, an 1 a peace waa concluded with that power at Vassi, January^ 
1,792. 

17. Towards the close of the same year, after the king of France 
an<l his liimily were in a state of continement, many attempts were 
maile by the national assembly to ascertain the views ol England 
with regard to the confederacy lurmed against her, and the question 
ot jjeace or war se»>med nearly brought to an issue, belore the horrible 
execution of the king, in the month of .lanuary, 1,703. That event 
being I'olioweil by the di-^mi-sal of the French minister at l/undon, 
appeared so totally to di-*solve all friendly communications between 
the two countries, as to induce the French government, by a decree 
of the assembly, February 3, 1,793, to declare war against the king 



328 MODERN HISTORY. 

of Great Britain and the stadtholdcr of Holland ; in which derrep, 
there was evidently an attempt in the \ erv wording ol it to separate 
the people ol' the two countries from their respective sovereigns. 

18 Bv this time, indeed, tiie encroaching disposition ol the 
French revolutionists was manilestcd in their iuiuexation of ba\oy 
to France lor ever, as soon as thov had gained any advantages over 
if and in their conduct in the iVelherlands, by declaruig the navi- 
gation of the Scheld free, contrary to all subsisting treaties with 
the Dutch. The same spirit was apparent in their relusal to eic- 
empt Alsace and Lorraine from the ojK'iation ot the decrees lor the 
abolition of feudal rights and in their forcible seizure ot Avignon 
and the conitat Venaissiii, which had belonged to the Komaii see 
for many centuries. It is true, the indiscreet manitestoes ot the 
combined armies were sufticient to slimuLite a petiple, already in 
a high degree of irritation, to acts of severe reprisil. in all cases ot 
success; but it was verv maniliest that they had already violated 
their own principle of "not acting on a system of :iggrandi/.ement, 
of wliich they maile such boast at the beginning ol the revolution. 
Their glaring abandonment v( this principle, and the injury done to 
the Dutch by opening the Scheld, were the ostensilde grounds ot 
the war on the part of England. The declaration of France, ui 
some degree, saved the mini-ter from the respon>ibility of having 
actually commenced hostilities, however, in the opinion of opoosi- 
tion, he might be said to have provoketl them ; but it should still be 
observed, that there was a treaty subsisting between the two countries, 
adirming that the rccal or disiiiission of public ministers should Ije 
considered tmitamount to a declaration of war. If so, and the treaty 
was not invalidated by the change of things at l*aris, as many asserted, 
llie tirst declaration of war proceeded from the I'.nglish government. 
>vho, on the suspension of the kingly authority, had recalled lord 
Ciower from Paris, (many other courts, h(nve\«r, having done the 
same.) and on the death of the king, abruptly dismissed the French 
minister. M. Cluiuveliii, from England. 

19. The exact objects of the hostile interference of England 
were never formally explained in parliament, though in the king'.s 
<leclaration they were regarded as too notorious; e\ery thing con- 
duced to render it ai)parenl, that they had in view as much to op- 
pose the propagation of anarchical principles, as the violence of 
territorial aggressions ; tliat previously to the declaration of war 
on either pari, the English go\ ernment hail shown a dispf)sition not 
to interfere with the internal alluii-s ol France, seems manifest from 
many circumstances. 

"U. It is not necessary to enter into the details of the war that 
took place at'ter England joined the confederacy. The extraor- 
dinary progress and success of the French appertains to the history 
of that country, and may therefore be found elsewhere. Thougli 
the British troops fought with their accustomed bravery, and ob- 
tained in their first campaign some signal advantages, yet, owing 
in some measure to the want of harmony and cordiality between 
the confederates, but still more to the overwhelming force of 
France, now risen en riwsse. they ultimately met with great reverse.*, 
and were compelled to abandon the country they had undertaken to 
defend ; but though unsuccessful by land, on the ocean England 
maintained her wonted superiority. Many of the French West hi- 
dia inlands fell into her power in the summer of 1,794, and a most 
decisive victory was gained by lord Howe, over the Brest fleet, oq 



MODEllN HISTORY. 3^J 

the 1st of June. The inland of Corsica also was subdued, and by 
the anti-galhran party, with the celebnited Paschal Paoli at their 
heat), erected into a monarchy, the kin^lv power and preroj^atives 
being freely conterred on hi-J "m:i.v'«ty fieorge 111. In the nnuith of 
October, however, 1,796, the Frmch party recovered the ascenden- 
cy, and the island being evacuated by the English, was re-aimexe<l 
to France. 

21. At the conclusion of the year 1,794, though France had on 
the conti:ient made surprising acquisitions, the «pu-its of the Knglish 
were far t'rom being •'haken. and the utmost etTort-; were clu'erbdlv 
made for continuing the contest on tiie ocean; and in all the colonies 
of the enemy, the advantages were clearly on the side of the Uriti-ih, 
during the years 1,79.% 1,790, and 1,797, when negotiations lor 
peace took place, but without being brought to any favourable i-»iie. 
At the close of 1,797, his majesty, attended by the two hou»es of 
parliament, an«l the great odicers of state, »vent to St. Paid's, to olTer 
up a publit: and national thanksgiving for the naval victories obt^uncd 
ill all parts of the world ; upon which occasion, many llag^ and 
colours liken from the Frem h, Spaniard-, and Dutch, were borne in 
soleTnn jtomp to the cathedral, and deposited on the altar. JN'othiug 
could exceed the eiithu-ia-im uith which the Mriti-«h nation at (Ids 
p«'riod appeare<l di'po-*«Ml to resi"<t the threats of the enemy. The 
national inditia having ofTered to tnin^t'er their service^* to Ireland, 
to suppre-;'* a n-bellion which had broken out there, volunteer corp" 
were formed in all part-* of the kingdom to supply their place, and 
the people were readily induc"(l to submit to a measure of tinance, 
then tii*8i adopted, namely, of rai-'ing, by a triple assessment, (after- 
wards converted into an income and propeitv tax.) a large propor- 
tion of the supplies wanted for carrying on the «;ir •^ifhin tlu ir,:r . 
?o much, in sln)rt, of the loan, as should exceed the sum dis<:h;(rg<-d 
hy the oj>eration of the sinking fimd, so that no addition shouKi be 
made to the permanent debt. 

'2 J. \t\ {\vi year 1.791.!, the a/Tiirs of Ireland occasioned groat dif- 
firullies. A regularly organized rebellion, the leaders of wbirh 
were in constant communication with the enemv, threatened to- 
tally to dissolve the conm^xion sul>sisting between that countiy 
nnd (ireU IWitain^and to invite the aid and co-openition of Fnince, 
nt the manifest na/-ird of rendering Ireland a depentlencv of the 
latter power, as had already been the ciuse with Savoy. lielgiimi, 
lA>mbai'dy, and \ enice. Ireland had but lately obtained concessions 
from Kn^^land of no incon-ider.dde imiwrtance, a fiTe trade, and the 
recognition of her political independence ; but the catholics were di*- 
Palislied with the national representation, to the defects in which 
they attributed the continuance of the penal statutes still dire< ti d 
against them. 'I'he French revolution led to the formation of ilie 
society of I'nited Irishmen, in 1.791, which had uiany relbnns and 
changes in vii'W, though short perhaps ot an entire revolution. In 
l,7i>.'j, from ri'presentalions made to it of the oppressed state ol Ire- 
land, the FreiiiMi government regularly prollered its assistance to 
subvert the monanHiy, .and separate Ireland iVom Britain. Fortunate- 
ly the plans ot" the tr.iitors were timely discovered, and though it 
was not possible to prevent a recouiNo to arms, which alflicted many 
parts of the kingdom b«'tween April and Octoner, vet the principal 
ringleadei-s were for (lie most p.u't seized, cx< «ute<l, or comjK'lled to 
flv, and under the able governiuenl of lord Corowallis, li-au^uilltfcy 
Ee2 42 



330 MODERN HISTORY. 

was happily restored, with less difficulty and damage than had been 

€XPCCtG(i» 

23. The situation of affairs in Ireland during 1,798, led in the lol- 




such measure could be carried into execution without the tree con 
sent and acquiescence of the Irish parliament. Many circumstan- 
ces seemed to conduce to render the propostd union desinihie and 
beneficial to both nations, and at this particular moment, to recon- 
cile most people to it. The catholics of Irolanil had become dis- 
satistied with the parliament of that country, while the proteslanls, 
who were greatly outnumbered by the catholics, though they pos- 
sessed four tiftlis of the property 6l" the kingdom, ha»l good re:ison 
to suppose their interests and ascendency would be best secured 
in one united and imperial parliament, than in a distinct legisla- 
ture, in a country where the catholics liad already obtained their 
elective franchise, and composed the bulk of the population. They 
might also reasonably apprehend tin- conse(piencc^ ol' the overtures 
that had been made to Krance, and the alarming progress of revolu- 
tionary principles. In the case of the regency, the danger-^ incident 
to two distinct legislatures, had been rendered sulliciently apparent. 
On all these accounts, though the measure was at Ur^t very coMly 
entertained, and even rejected by the Irish house of connnons ; the 
minister was greatly encouraged to proceeil. by the strong support 
he received in both countries, iVom persons of all nmks and parties. 
A series of resolutions was proposed to the house, to be laid belore 
his majesty, recommendatory of the ))roposed union, which, alter 
some opposition, was sent to a committee by a majority ol" 140 to 
15. In the lords, the address passed without a ili virion ; a protest, 
however, being entered on the books, signed by tlireu lords, Hol- 
land, Thanet, and King. 

21. The last year of the eighteenth centiiry was distinguished 
by the most important events in India, where the Knglish, under the 
government of the earl of Morninglon, totally deleated the most 
insidious, and powert'ul enemy, the t'orces in that remote country 
ever had to contend with; Tippoo Saib, the sidtan of Mysore, son 
of the celebrated Hyder Ally Khan, who had usurped those domin- 
ions in 1,761. In the years i,7r;4, and l,7;tJ, treaties of pe.ice had 
been concluded between the sultan and the English, which, however, 
had had very little effect on the funner, who had shown himself 
constantly attached to the French interests; and having been com- 
pelled by the last treaty to cede one half of his dominions to the 
conquerors, and to deli\er two of his sons as hostages into the hands 
of lord Cornwallis, the go\ernor-general, appears to have harboured 
the most inveterate hatred against the English from that n)oment, 
antl to have meditated, by the aid of the French, and certain ol' the 
native powers, nothing less llian their total extirpation. It would be 
impossible, perhaps, to rind in history stronger instances of duplicity 
»nd treacherv. than were practised by this celebrated potentate 
against the British interests, during the years 1,797 and 1,798, in 
the spring of the latter of which, lord Mornington arrived in India. 
With the French directory, with the French colonial government in 
Mauritius, with the king of Candahar, with tlie courts of Poonah 
and Hyderabad, with Buonaparte in Egypt, and even with the Otto- 



MODERN HISTORY. 331 

man Porte, at the same time, the wily sultan managed to carry on 
secret negotiation^, amidst the strongest professions of amity "and 
attachment towards the Knghsh goveniment. it has heen conjectur- 
ed, that li.id he ohtained eftectualaid from the French, in extirpating 
the Faiglish, he xvould as willingly have turned against his European 
ahettoi-s; (he purport of all his negotiations with the native powers, 
being to stir them up to a general combinati(jn against the injidels 
and enemies of the prujAet^ without any distinction of the two 
nations. 

23. By the extreme vigilance and cnutious proceedings of the 
new governor-general, the intrigues of the sultan, notwithstanding 
hi.s reiterated assurances of fidelity, were so amply discovered and 
exposed, as to vindicate, in the fullest manner, the declarntion of 
war which took place in February, l,79Si, and which was speedily 
followeil up by the most vigorous proceedings on the part of the 
armv, terminating in the c;ipture of Seringapatam, the capital of 
the Mysorean dominions. May 4, and the death of the sultan, whose 
body was found, after the action, covered with heaps of deatl. his 
immense territories were divided amongst the allied powers, the 
remains of his family provided for in the (Jarnalir, ami a boy ot' live 
yeai-s old, the surviving n'pre-^entative of the Hindoo dynasty, restor- 
ed to the throne of his ancestors. 

2l). In the tirsl year of the new century, the projected union and 
incorporation of the two legislatures and kingdoms of Great Britain 
and Ireland, was brought to a conclusion. Doubts were expressed 
in the Irish house of common.",; and supported bv gi-eat strength of 
argument, whether, as a delegated bo<ly, and without a (Ve*li a|>- 
peal to their constituents, they could formally consi-nt to tlieir own 
annihiliition. Strong suspicions also were thrown out. thai the plan 
had no other object in view tbiin that of recovering to Kngland the 
domination ""he had surrendered in l.ToJ. when the inilept-ndeiiry of 
the Irish legislatm'e had been tully, and, as it was alleged, hiially 
acknowledged and established; but these objections were over- 
ruled. It was no surrender, it wa< urged, of their legislative rights, 
to consent to be incor|)or;ited with the parliament ol Ureat liiitaiu, 
hut a consolidation of them; and their consent would anpiire a 
character from the regyilalion* of l,7Hi, highly honourable to the 
nation ; she could now treat as an indei)endent state, and upon a 
footing of e(piality, instead of being in any respect compelled, as 
might otherwise have been the case, to an union of subjection. 
Early in the year 1,!J(JU, the assent of the two houses of parliament. 
in Ireland, was signified in addresses to his majesty, IranMuiited 
through the lord lieulonant, whi<;h being submitted to the British 
parliament, after much discussion anil debate on the bill in gen- 
eral, as well :ls its several provisions, the union of the two king- 
doms was linally arranged to take place I'rom the lirsl of January, 
1,801. 

27. The act of incorporation contained eight articles : (he first 
three decreed the union of the two kingdoms, the maintenance of 
the protestant succession, and consolidation of the parliament. By 
the fourth, it was settled that four prelates should sit alternately in 
each session, and twenty-eight lay peers be elected for life, while 
two members for each county, (thirty-two in all) and thirly-^ix citi- 
zens and burgesses, should represent the commons. The tiflh article 
nnited the churches o\' England :md Ireland; the sixth and seventh 
provided for tlie commercial and linauciul arrangements of the two 



332 MODERN HISTORY. 

countries, and the eighth for the maintenance of laws then in force, 
and continuance of the courts of jnchcaturo. 

28. On the tirst of January, 1,801, a royal declaration was Issued, 
regulating the style and titles appertaining to the imperial crown of 
Great Britain and Ireland, with the arms, Hag^^, and ensigns thereof. 
In these arrangements, the opportunity was judiciously taken of 
laying aside the title of king ot France, and the French arms; (he 
tide in English was conlined to Great Britain and Ireland ; in Latin, 
'■'■ Brilamiianim Rex,''' and the quartering of the '"Jieurs dc /w,"' omit- 
ted in the blazonry. 

29. A fresh revolution in the government of France, about thia 
time, having thrown the exocutive power, in a great measure, 
into the hands of a supreme magistrate, the first consul, and over- 
tures for peace having been made hy Buonaparte in that rapacity, 
much discussion upon the subject took place between the ministers 
of the two countries, but without eflect. The Austrians having 
sustained a del'eat in Italy, had solicited and obtained a suspension of 
hostilities, and entered upon some negotiations lor peace, to which 
England was invited to become a parly, upon consenting to a na\ al 
arniistice. but her maritime power stood so high, that while iMalta 
continued subject to France, and the French army unsubdued in 
Egypt, she could not reasonably be expected to forego such advan- 
tages, and to place herself upon a footing with lior continental ally, 
whose situation was so ditferent. Her determination to continue the 
war, was soon followed by the surrender of .Alaltn. on the Mb of Sep- 
tember, 1,800, and in tiie covwse of the next year, the Frencb troops 
were compelled finally to abandon Egypt; thus terminating an ex- 
pedition, in a great degree mysterious, but which, no doubt, might 
nave led to the disturbance of our power in India, had it not been lor 
the interruption it met with on its way thither, and the overthrow of 
Tippoo Sr.ib. 

:iO. In tbe course of the year 1,000, the enemies of England ivere 
greatly increased by the revival amongst the northern powers, of 
the armed neutrality, originally devised and adopted in 1.700. >\s 
this dispute involved a very curious point of iniernational law, it 
would nave been well, if it could have been brought to such an 
issue as might have settled the question for ever : hut. after much 
negotiation, and some very unpleasant conHicts at sea. (particularly 
with the Danes.) seizures and embargoes, the matter terminated 
rather in an uncertain compromise, than any positive adjustment. 
The right of search by belligerents, however inconvenient to neu- 
trals, seemed to have been acknowledged for nianv centuries, as a 
principle of maritime law ; upon the system of the armed neutrality, 
it was contended that ships under convoy siiould pass free, the flag 
ol the neutral power being sulhcient pledge and security that the 
cargoes were not contraband of war. The claim in this case being 
eviiJently directed against England, then, and at all times mistress 
of the sea, rendered it a point of extreme importance; one which 
she could not surrender without a contest, or armed negotiation; 
otherwise, and if it had not been decidedly in favour of her oppo- 
nents, the countenance given to the new .'system by so many states of 
Europe, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, Naples, France, Spain, 
Holland, Austria, Portugal, Venice, and Tuscany, (for by some steps 
or other they all seemed disposed to adopt the spiiit of it.) might have 
been expected to amount to a formal recognition of its principle, a.s 
a proper law of nations ; the dispute, however, upon this occasion, 



MODERN HISTORY. 333 

was settled at Petersburg, by negotiation, after the accession of the 
emperor Alexander, and attended with concessions on the part of the 
Bahic powers, of singular importance, though less complete than 
they might have been, owing to the counter concessions of Britain. 
Thus, though it was decided that enemy's property embarked on 
board neutral ships, should be liable to conhscation, and that the 
right of searching merchant ships, even under convoy of a ship of 
war, should be recogniz.;d, yet, it was at the same time determined 
that arms and ammunition only should be considered as contraband, 
and that the right of searching merchant ships under convoy should 
appertain exclusively to vessels belonging to the royal navy. If not 
entirely decisive, however, the stipulations of this" celebrated con- 
vention highly deserve to be looked up to as a proper standard of 
the rights of neutrality. 

31. During the contest that arose with England, out of this con- 
federacy of the nothern powei-s, the king of Prussia, one of the con- 
tracting parties, saw tit to take possession of the king of (iroal Brit- 
ain's electoral states of Hanover, but on the change of allaii-s in 
Russia, was speedily induced to restore them. 

32. By the treaty of peace con. luded at Lunevillc, between the 
emperor of Germany and France, February 9, ItiOl, England was 
left without an allv, and a change ot' ministry having taken place 
about the same time, may be said to have laid the foundation for 
more serious negotiations for peace, on the part of England and 
France, than had hitherto taken place since the commencement of 
the revolution. Nothing, however, seemed to luisten it so much 
asifhe defeat of the French army in Egypt, and the settlement of 
the ditferences between Englaml and the Baltic powei-s, which 
enabled her to negotiate with more advantage, and greatly lower- 
ed the 3^)int of the French government. ' rreliminaries were signed 
on the tirst of October, 1,801, and a defiiiili\e treaty concluded at 
Amiens, between Great Britain and the I'rencii republic, Spain and 
Holland, on the 2:>th of jMarch, 1,8U'2. By this treaty, England 
obtained CcA Ion t'rum the Dutch, and Trinidad from the Spaniards, 
relinquishing all her other conque?ls ; Malta being given back to 
the knights ot St. John of Jerusalem, under the guarontHO of th« 
priucipal powers of Europe. 



SECTION XIV. 

FRANCE, FROM THE DEATH OF THE KING AND QUEEN, 
AND OVERTHROW OF THE GIRONDIST OR BRISSOTINE 
PARTY, 1,793, TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DIREC- 
TORY, 1,795. 

1. The situation of France, towards the close of the year 1,793, 
was deplorable in the extreme. It lay at the mercy of a faction, 
not merely blood-thirsty, but which nothing but blood woukl satis- 
fy. The jacobins, or Hobespierrean party, determined to root out 
every thing that could, by the remotest unplication, be denounced 
as adverse to their plans, procured a decree to be passed, exceed- 
ing every thing that^ can be conceived in atrocity. Such was the 
*' Loi suf les su^pects^"'' passed in September, by which their agents 



334 MODERN HISTORY. 

in all parts of the country, were empowered to arrest, imprison, 
and thereby doom to destruction, whomsoever suspicion m anv 
manner attached to, not merely as principals, hut as connected with 
principals, however unavoidably, naturally, or accidentally. One 
article alone will explain the rest. The tbllowing are the persons 
denounced in the 5th : — All of the ancient class of nobility ; all hus- 
bands, wivesj fathers, mothers, sons, or daughtei-s, brothers, sisters. 
or agents ot emigrants, who shall not have constantly manifestea 
an aitachtncnt to the revolution. The queen, the twenty-two victims 
of the Girondist party, and general Custinc, may be considered as 
among the earliest and most dij^tinguished pei"sons that tell under 
the power of this horrilde faction. The due d'Orleans, though not 
belonging to the Girondist party, was denounced by Robespierre 
himself, as connected with them, and publicly executed on the 6th 
of November ; but his life and conduct, both public and private, had 
been such, that be tell totally unregretled. It would be vain to 
attempt to relate the many dreadful events which marked tliis bloody 
period. It is to be hoped history will never again have to record 
such complicated cruelties and miseries, such premeditated murders, 
such studied torments, mental and bodily. 

2. On the 17lh of November, of this memorable year, the cath- 
olic religion, (at the instance of an archhishnp of Paris., Gobet !) 
was publicly abjured by the convention, anti decrees pasi, amidst 
the most tumultuous acclamations, for sub-^tituting a religion of reason 
in its room. The churches were quickly despoiled of their ornament*), 
the altars destroyed, civic feasts instituted instead of religious festi- 
vals, and Liberty., Equalily., &c. consecrated as objects of worship. 
These revolutionary and anti-catbojic decrees were moreover 
ordered to be translated into //(//»«;, on purpose that they might be 
transmitted in that most intelligibl*^, and therefore most ollt-nsive 
shape, to the pope. The calei-iar underwent also a correction. A 
new republican ibrm and era being adopted and established, to com- 
mence troni the 22d of .':^eptpmber, 1,792, the day on which tlie na- 
tional convention began its sittings, and royalty was abolished. The 
year was divided into twelve parts, of tnirty days each, distinguished 
according to the prevalent seasons, y'trnJuniaire., September and Oc- 
tober; iinwi«ire, October and November ; Friinaire., November and 




days added, all commemorative of the revolution. Each month was 
divided into three decades, and a respite trom labour allowed on 
every tenth day. 

3. It was not possible to suppose that those who ruled during 
this dark '■'■ reign of terror ^'^ could long be suffered to retain their 

Eower and station in the republic. Fortunately for the good of 
uman society, their very crimes rendered them jealous and sus- 
picious oi each other, so that before many months had passed, 
atter the execution of the queen and the Bri.^sotines, the earth was 
nd ot such monsters, proscribed and driven to the scaflold by their 
own Iriends and associates in wickedness ; Robespierre, from whom 
the iaction chiefly took its denominatiork, being at length accused, 
condemned, and executed, in the course of a ^cw hours in the month ' 
ot July, 1,794, to the satislactioD of the whole civilized world. Be- 



MODERN HISTORY. 335 

fore this great day of retribution, however, one more victim of roy- 
alty was brought to the scaffold, whose sole ofience must have been 
the heroic display she had made, in her constant attendance upon 
the king, her brother, and his most unhappy family, of every amia- 
ble virtue that could adorn a woman. The princess Elizabeth, wlio 
had continued in the temple, with the two children of the unliappy 
Lewis XVI., from the period of his execution, was brought belbre 
the revolutionary tribunal, accused of " accompanying the late king 
when he attempted his escape ;" -of having ''attended upon and ad- 
ministered help to the wounded in the conthct with the guards ;'' 
and of '• having encouraged her int'ant nephew, Lewis XV'll., to en- 
tertain hopes ot" ;iscending the throne of his father;'' and upon these 
charges sentenced to die, May 10, 1,7U4, mid executed without pity 
or remorse. 

4. It was during the year 1,793, that Napoleon Buonaparte, a na- 
tive of Corsica, had first an opportunity ol distinguishing himself iu 
the French army, being emploved in tlie direction of the arlillerv at 
the siege of Toulon, which had fallen tor a short time into the hands 
of the English. Hitherto the war against the powei-s in opposition 
to France, had been carried on in a most desultory and extraordinary 
manner, with more success certainly on the part of the French than 
could have been expected, (ronj the extraonliiiary condition and cir- 
cum-tances of their armies, and the strange state of responsibility io 
which their commanders were placed by their rulers at home. 
Some of tlif'ir generals were compelled to desert, many were pro- 
scribed, and many, after displaying the utmost valour in the field, 
were actually brought to the scadold. Nevertheless, the impulse 
given to the revolutionary army, by the circumslaii<:es of their coun- 
try, aided by mistakes and jealousies on the part of their opponents, 
enabled it to combat etVectnally against much better oiganized 
troops, and to resist the attacks that were made upon it in ail quar- 
ters; lor in addition to the Austrians and Prussians, Sardinians, Eng- 
li'^h and Spanish, in La Vendee and oilier departments, a ci\il war 
prevailed, where many acts of heroism, indeed, were displayed 
by a brave, but unsuccessful band of royalists, who ultimately 
paid dear for their revolt, by the most horrid and disgraceful punish- 
menLs. 

5. The French revolution had now attained that pitch of extrav- 
agance and disorder, which lell no hopes of any check or termi- 
nation, but that which actually ensued, namely, a military despo- 
tism. According to the remarks of one of the ablest members of the 
hrst national assembly, one who was sacriliced at the period we 
have been treating ot\ in a way the most treacherous and revoltinaj 
to every feeling mind, the French revolution being undertaken, not 
for the sake of men, but for the sake of opinion, had no distinct 
leader, no Cromwell or Fairfax. All were leaders, all insli tutors, 
all equally interested in the course of afiairs. Such a revolution, 
he observes, must be commenced by all, but he was sagacious 
enough to foresee that it would probably be terminated by one. All, 
however, for a certain time, being leaders anil institutors, notlmig 
could ensue Irom such a state of things, but continual struggles to be 
uppermost ; continual denunciations and proscriptions of rival parties ; 
and a strange succession of new constitutions, and new Ibrms of gov- 
ernment, as any opening seemed to occur for bringing tilings to a 
settlement. 

ti. The death of Robespierre, and of many of his accompUces, 



336 MODERN HISTORY.' 

clearly afforded such an opening, if not lor settling, at least for 
ameliorating things ; but for some time the convention and the na- 
tion seemed to be in too great a surprise and consternation to pro- 
ceed with any method to so desirable an end. The iormer haying 
had its origin in the days of anarchy and confusion, seemed httie 
prepared to defend or support its own dignity, but the ci-y ot hu- 
manity began again to be raised, and to be heard, and in no long 
course of time after the defeat of Robespierre, the jacobin chib, 
from which had emanated all the previous acts and decrees, so 
disgraceful to France, was abolished and dissolved, by a decree ot 
the convention. The reformation of the laws and government 
gave greater trouble. The pain of death had been decreed against 
any who should propose to set aside the constitution of 1,793, and 
•with this sentence hanging over them, all the people had sworn to 
uphold and maintain it. Tired, however, of the absolute and un- 
controllable power they had exercised, many members, even ot the 
convention, sincerely wished for more limited authority. A com- 
mittee was appointed to prepare a new code of la>vs, and, in the 
mean time, processes were carried against some ol the most violent 
of the abettors of the late tumults and disorders, particularly the 
commissioners who had sanctioned the most dreadful proceedings 
at Lyons, Nantes, Orange, and Arras. The execrable law under 
which they had acted, " Loi des suspects,'' was repealed, and a just 
vengeance directed against those who had been most forward to car- 
ry it into execution. 

7. At length a new constitution was framed, presented to the 
convention, and approved. l\vo legislative councils, one of five 
hundred members, and the other of two hundred and (ifty, were 
to enact the laws ; the former to propose, the latter to sanction or 
reject them. The executive government was committed to five 
directors, chosen by the legislature, but whose responsibility was 
jll-detined, and their connexion with the legislative bodies not suffi- 
ciently provided for, either as a balance, or controlling ])0wer. It 
was not without other faults and blemishes, but it may undoubtedly 
be regarded as making a much nearer approach to order and reg- 
ularity, than the one which it was intended to supersede. It was 
jbrinally accepted and proclaimed, September 23, 1,795.* 

8. 'I'liis may be considered as the third constitution established 
since the first meeting of the states-general, in 1,789; great objec- 
tions were made to one article, which secured the return of a very 
large proportion of the members of the convention, to serve in the 
new legislature. Tumults were raised in the sections of Paris, and 
an attack made upon the convention, which, however, was at last 
rescued from the violence of the mob. Buonaparte, w no was then 
at Paris, was appointed to act upon this occasion in delience ol" the 
assembly. 

9. Externally, the affairs of France may be said to have been at 
this moment in a high and extraordinary degree of prosperity." The 
campaigns of 1,794 and 1,795, committed to the charge of very able 
generals, Pichegru, Souham, Jourdan, Kleber, Moreau, and Du- 
gommier, had hitherto succeeded beyond their utmost exi>ectations. 
The Belgian states, and the united provinces, had not only been 

f The directors being Reubel, Letourncur, Larcveillere-Ijcpaux, Bar- 
ras, and Sieyes ; but the latter declining tlie honour, Carnot supplied his 
place. 



aiODERN HISTORY. 337 

wrested from the hands of their defeniler?, the Austrian?, Prussians, 
and British, but associated with the French repubhc in a close con- 
federacy. The stadtholdership was again aboHshed, and the stadt- 
holder and ids family obliged to take refuge in England, hi ibe 
mean time, peace had been concluded with many of the belligerent 
powers, higiily advantageous to France; wiih Prussia, Spain, the 
landgrave of Hesse, tbe grand duke of Tuscany, anti others; while 
the navigation of the rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt, had beeu 
rendered free, in all their courses and branches, to llie people of 
France. These proceedings, with regard to the Belgian states and 
Holland, wore the commencement of a system pursued (rom that 
time on all the frontiers of the new republic. i>y a decree of the 
national assembly, tbe French generals were directeti to proclaim 
every where the sovereignty of the ^iro^'/r, to suppress all aulhorilies 
and privileges, to repeal all taxes, and eslablidi pmvi-ional govern- 
ments on democratic principles. By this system cf "'fnili'riih.iium,"' 
as it was called, tbe subdued countries being formed into republics, 
" repuliliqKcs sutellite^,'''' as they were signilicaiitly denominated by thj 
French themselves, were associated with Irance as sul'ordinale 
states. Of tbe states tirst revolutionized in this manner, tin' Batavi an 
republic took tbe leatl, surrendering to France, without besiialion, 
tbe clii'^f of her t'orlresses, and thus extending, and at the sam." lime 
protecting her frontier. The mistake she made in tbu>< welconung 
the French, wa* but loo soon di»c(nered. The French levied hoa\ y 
confrilmtions ; the Kngli>li took iVom them many of l.'ieir toreig:; 
settlenionti-, and particularly the cape of Good Hope, and the island 
of Ceylon. 

10. In the month of Jtme. 1,705, Lotus XVII., tlie unfortunab^ son 

■ of Loui-: XV I. .died in the teni|)|(', luuler circum.tances extremvHy 

■ suspicious, and vfry deplorable, Miaving been some time in (!ie cu-- 
tody of a tow-born drunken wretch. \vho did e\ .ry thing he coul I 
to insult and torment him, and undtrmitie his health. He was in llie 
eleventh year cf his age at tbe time of bi-^ death. His sister, t!ie 
princess royal, (the present duchess of Angouleme) was soon aft- i- 

^ wards n)o->t haj)pily released from her inisenible prison, whence a 
'" father, mother, and aunt, hail been successively led to execution, 
and where an only brother hail died a victim to cruelty, and perh ijh 
poison. Her royal highness was exchanged ibr certain memiiei's of 
the late convention, who had been didivered up to the allies, by the 
generals who had inciu'rcd tbe displeasure of their rulers at Paris, 
or had fallen into the hands of the enemy by other accidents. 



SECTION XV. 

^lA^XE, FROM THE F.STABLISII.-\ir.NT OF THE DIRECTORY^ 
1,705, TO THE I'KACE OF A.MIENS, .,■ 

1. The appointment of the five directors, was an act of policy 
on the part of the riding members of the convention, who thought 
jt better to hazard such a division of the cx''cu(ive power, than to 
give umbrage to the j)eople, by the renewal of a fust magistrate, 
though an elective one, As tlieso new othcers, ho\vever, oweti' 
their nomination to the influence of those mend)ers of tlie late con- 
vention who were chosen to form a part of tiie legislaiive body; a 
Ff 43 



338 RIODERN HISTORY. 

close union was soon found to subsist between the directors and the 
majority ol" the coimcii. 

2. The council of ancients, consisting of two hundred and fifty 
members, at (irsl appeared to lurm the huhvark of the new consti- 
tution ; liaviiig no share in (he training of the la« s. they were able 
to interpose with the greater dignity in proiinuiuing their judgment 
n|)on such as wen' reierred to thcni, and often exeicised the re- 
stored privilege of the veto benelicially lur the puhhc The judi- 
cial murders of the reign of terror were terminated, ami the gov- 
ernment ilisplayetl, in many instances, a return to modcratiun and 
luuuiuilw extremely desirable and praistMVc<rtliy, but in th»> south- 
ern (le[)artmeut, a system of reactinn and relaUalion i)re\ ailed, which 
il was beyond their power to control. An organized body of assassins 
kept all tlio«e parts of the nation in a stale of incessant alarm. The 
metropolis was in some degree re>lore:l to its wonted gayety, but 
every thing bespoke, as might reasonably be expected, a most de- 
jnorali/.ed state ol society. The stage became intolerably licentious, 
and the public amusements were di-^graced, by a freedom of man- 
ners, and indelicacy of dress on the part of the teniales, beyond mea- 
sure otfensive. 'J'hose whose nearest connexions had been doomed 
to the scatfoKI, could fiad no bt Iter mode of commemoiiiting their 
loss, than by Jht he meetings, called "Balsa la I'lcliinc" to which 
no one could lie admitted but such as had lost a fither, a mother, a 
husband, a wile, a brother, or a sisier. by the guillotine ! 

3. Hitherto the prowess of the I'reiich armit^s had been mani- 
je'sted much more in ihe north, and on the llliine. than in the 
southern parts of the continent; towards Italy, the Ati-^trinns ami 
Hiedmonlese seemed to hold the Fretjch in check. Dugommier had 
indeed invaded Spain with effect; and by his attacks contributed 
to biiiig about a peace with that country; but now a new scene 
■was about to open, leading to such a succession of victories and 
revolutions as il wotdd be impossible I'ully lo describe in such a work 
as the present. 

•1. Karly in the year l,79ti. genend Huonaparte o})tained (being 
then Iwenly-six years of agr,") the chiet cot.unaml of the army of 
Italy, as il was called. Itis eagerness to connuence openitions 
drew upon him some Remonstrances. It was suggested to him that 
many things weie wantir)g in bis army necessary to the campaign. 
'" 1 have enough,*' said he, "it" I conquer, and loo many if 1 shoidd 
be beaten." The Austrian army in those parts was commanded 
by gener.il Beaulieu, an ollicer peculiarly active ami enterprising. 
General P.uonaparte took the command of the French army on the 
30th of March, and betueeii the 12th and loth of .\pril, beat the 
Austrian troops in thrt-e distinct engagements, at Monlenotte, Mil- 
lesinio (or Montelezino.) and Dego. In ihe space ot four days, it 
lias been comj>uted, that the Austrian army was di:Tiini~Iied lo the 
amount of 15,UL»0 men, being separated at the same lime liom their 
Pietlmontese allies. Alter the battle of Dego, liuonaparle advanced 
rapidly into Fiedniont, nor did he stop till he had arrived at the 
very gates of Turin. There he agreed to an armistice solicited by 
the king, who was ignominious!}- compelled to submit to his occu- 
pying with French troops all the principal fortresses of his coun- 
try. Happy to be allowed to retain llie capital, he was also obliged 
to cede Sa\oy, Nice, Tende, and Beuil. From Turin, Buona- 
parte pursued his course into Lombardy, and by the celebrated 



MODERN HISTORY. 339 

baUlc of Lodi, on the 10th of May, obtained complete possession of 
the I\Iilancse. 

5. L'nuiUing to enter immediately mto the narrow parts of Italy 
in t\m stage of his prnccedmg*. he" satisfied himseU" with tiireateii- 
ing the pope and the iving of iVapJcs, till he brought them to terms 
ot peace ; the former surrendering to the Frencli repubhc. Bologiia, 
Ferrara, and the coasts of the AdriiUic, from the moutlis of the J'o, 
to Ancona; and the latter consfuting to contribute largeiy to the 
maintenance of the French army, and to close hi- ports against 
the enemies of France. Tiie dukes of Parn)a and .Altxlena, made 
sl]bmis^ion i:i time to sa\e their countries. The grand duke of 
Tuscany ha.l pieviously acknowledged the Freiich ropubiic, I'Ut 
was bii'ldeu very uereniptorily to exclude the IJigli>h livn> tlie 
port of Feghoni. The submission of ;dl tlicto jninces ;md j^latcs 
to the overwiiulining force cl tlie army und».'r the command oi Buo- 
naparte, was but part of llie victory he obtained over tltenu In 
every step he took, he was careful, by new law«;, treatits, and po- 
litical arrangeniPriLs, to ''■ rfvottdiouhc'^ the countries o\er which 
he obtained an ascendency by arms, and to incorporate them witli 
the I'reuch republic. Savoy, Nice, and the Milanese, were llms 
brougbt under his dominion^ and ultimately erected into distinct, 
though subordinate republics. 

0. It was at the very commencement of the military career of 
this extraordinary man, that be adopted a system of plunder, which, 
flyr a long time, engaged the attention of the whole ri\ilizcd world. 
In all the treaties concluded will) the Italian prir.i ..s, he stipulated 
that French artists should be admitted into tlieir public galleries, 
museums, and palaces, to select as many as they might choose, of 
tbe cboicesl perlbrmances of the celebrated painters and sculpteis 
of all ages, and cau-^e them to bo conveyed to Tiiris. Irench sentiment 
has dwelt upon the circunisiuiice of the immortal Ujiphael. Titian, 
and iJomciiicbino, ha\ing thus bad it in their power, and in su«li 
critical moments, to j);iy tbe n'osoiri of tbeii- native countries, over- 
looking the sad \iolalion of sentiment occasioned by the removal of 
these precious pledges of their stuperKluus talents Irom the bands 
which bad so long preserved them, and from places of which they 
had been so justly regardetl as the choice^-t ami most \aluabte 
ornaments. 

7. Tbe siege of Mantua was attended w ith many severe conflicts. 
On the reduction ol that impoi-lant place, iJuonaparte is staled to 
have thus addressed bis soldiei-s v^' The (apture of Mantua termi- 
nates a campaign which hai ju.stly entitled you to tbe everlasting 
gratitude oJ' your country. i\ on have triirmjilied over the eiieiny in 
ibr-ee pitched battles, and strrenty inli^rior eii-^agemenis ; _\ou have 
taken a hundred tbousimd prismier-s, (ilty (ield-pieces, two" tliou-arid 
battering cannons. The country you have subdued h.is nouri^lled, 
maintained, and paid tbe ;;riny duririg the whole campaign, and vou 
have lemitlcu ibirty millions to tht' minister of /inance, in aid of the 
public Ir-easuiy. \ou have cnriclietl tbe mus.-mn ;it I'aris, wilh 
more than tbive hundred of llie choicest and most valuable works ol' 
art, both of ancient arrd nrodern Italy, and which it had takerj thirty 
ages to pi'oduce.^'' 

8. Though we know from subsequent accounts of French victo- 
ries, that they are not always to be depeiivled upon, yet iher-e can 
be DO doubt, that lire above "atklress does pretty lairiy describe the 
extraordinary rapidity and extent of Buonaparte's first operations 



340 MODERN HISTORY. 

in the field. The years 1,796 and 1,797, wore indeed marked by 
such surprising instances of this nature, that they deserve a place 
in historv, though the prudence and good generalsl)ip of such pre- 
cipitate steps has heen reasonahlv que^tioned. IMantua capitulated 
on the ild of February, 1,797. and Buonaparte pursued his course 
in the direction of tiie Austrian cai)ital. leaving Italy behind him. 
with a view of penetrating to Vienna. Though obliged to tight his 
wav, he succeeded, March 2, 1,797, in taking possession of Ciradis- 
c;i," which laid open to him tiie provinces of Goritz, Carniola, and 
Carinthia. 

9. The Austrian grand army was commanded by the emperor's 
brother, the archduke Charles, an able general, a great favourite 
with the soldiei's, and who had combated the French on the Rhine 
with signal succe-s. Ho was not, however, strong enough to awnit 
the approach of the French, wlio soon reached Leoben, only thirty 
miles from \ ienna, where great consternation was excited, and the 
iinjx'rial iiunlly compelled to retire. As both armii'S, however, 
•vere brought into a very critical position, negotiations were en- 
tered into at this place, an armistice concluded on the VAh of Apiii, 
and preliniinaries of peace signed on the l.'jth of the same month, 
1,797. 

10. Before we notice the celebrated treaty of Campo-Formio, 
by which the jioace was settled and contirnu-d, it may be tit to con- 
sider the slate of those countries which Ruonaparte had left behind 
Oil his marcii upon \ ienna. He had made peace on his own tenn:^ 
(most advantageous ones lor France) with Parma, Modena, Rome, 
and Naples, lb; had overrun Savoy, obtained possession of the 
Milanese, and reduced ?tlantua. He had erected Genoa into the 
Ligurian re|>ublic, ami the IMilaneso he converted into the Cisalpine 
K;pubiic,attei' having first given it the name of Transpadane, in 
reference to the rivt,r Fo, and in contradi-linction (o the Cispadano 
rcpni)iic, consisting oj" Modena, ilologna, Kcggio, and Ferrara, con- 
joderaled in 1.796. He liad passed \ cnice on tiis wav to Trieste, of 
wiiicli he took possession on the Jd of April, 1,797. The Venetians 
had alForded an asylum to Fewis X\ HI., and wavered greatly in 
taking p;u't either with the Austrians or the French, iiot being able 
to calculate upon the issue of the contests They had also liallen 
intodo.nestic broils and dissensions, which gave the French command- 
er tlic opportuniiy he always sought, of introducing a Frencli army 
to allay their diik-renccs. The consequences were, that t'.iey im- 
mediately seiz'.'d ii{)on tlie llect, the loriian islands, and, in fact, all 
the \ enelian states, which enabled Buonaparte greatly to improve 
tiie pMCe he was making with the Ansiri.uis. Alb iiiia and the Ioni- 
an ishuivls he k.Mil to hi nseif; to the Cisalpine repnldic he assigned 
the western dep. ndoncies of N'enice, reserving for Austria, the ca^ii- 
tr>l. isui::, Dahn ili;i, and the island of t:ie Adriatic, jn exchange ior 
the Metiiodands and tii-,- dachy of Luxombin-g. He had pi'ofoss- 
cd to enrar upon the \'cnetiin slates, nyndy to rescue them iVom 
tiie iiands of Austria, but by this extracnliaary maniBuvre, he not 
oaiy delivered ih;;m over to the very po^ver irom whom he unjer^ 
1 )0K to save thrni] but he obtained from Austria the very object tor 
i.i;;' sake of whtcli her English allies had refused to make peace in 
1,79G. Such appears to have been the chief foundation of the cele- 
brated treaty of Campo-Formio, concluded between the emperor and 
the French republic, October, 17, 1,797. 

n. Previously to the conclusion of the treaty of Campo-Formio, 



MODERN HISTORY. 341 

the allies had lost three of their confederates, the dukes of Wir- 
temburg and Bavaria, and the Margrave of Baden, all of whom 
had found it necessary to purchase peace of the directory by heavy 
contributions. Such great advantages in its external relations 
were, however, far froni contributing to the internal tranquillity of 
the republic. The first five directors, as might naturally have beea 
expected, were by no means accordant in their views, or of equal 
talents and abilities ; and provision seemed to have been made 
for fresh revolutions, by the continual recurrence ot new elections, 
both in the legislative assemblies and directory. One of the iive 
directors was annually to go out, and one third of each of the le- 
gislative bodies to bs renewed. The first event of this kind, as 
might be expected, revived all the jealousies of rival parties, and 
produced an explosion almost as violent as any that had yet occur- 
red ; the explosion of the 18th of Fructidor, as marked in the short- 
lived republican calendar. Le Tourneur quitted the directory by 
lot, and was succeeded by Barthelemi, who .soon appeared inclined 
to join Carnot against Keubel, Barras, and Lareviliierc-Lepaux. 
The three latter were lor assuming a despotic power; their oppo- 
nents were divided, some inclined to the restoration of royalty, 
others to the emancipation of the councils IVom the sway of the 
directors, Keubel and his two ;issociates ; but as they formed a mi- 
nority, and their enemies were prompt in their measures of revenge, 
and had moreover the command of the military, ii kvas not long be- 
fore the latter obtained the victory they sought- On the ltl» of 
September, 1,797, the legislative assemblies were surrounded with 
troops, and at the instance of tlie three ruling directors, two of their 
colleagues, (Carnot and Barthelemi) several membei'S of the two 
councils, many public fninisters, and many men of letter-, declared 
guilty of anti-republican measures and priiu iples, arrested and impri- 
soned ; and, on the 5th, sentenced to deportation to the unhealthy 
and remote settlement of Guiana, in South America. The authoi's, 
editors, directors, and proprietors, of no less than Ibrty-lwo public 
journals were includecf in the sentence. Some ol the proscribed 
members found means to cscai^e ; but those who were convoyeti to 
Guiana, sufl'ered dreadfully from the voyage; many died from the 
unwtiolesomeness ol' the place, some founti means to return to Europe, 
particularly general Bichegru and the ex-director, Barthelemi. who 
were conveyed to England from the Dutch settlement of Surinam. 

12. Buonaparte returned to Paris not long after these disturban- 
ces, rjid was received with peculiar honours. The people began 
to look up to him for deliverance from the tyranny of three direct- 
ors; and the latter were as eager to remove him from the metropo- 
lis, in the midst of the honours paid to him, on account of his vic- 
tories in Italy and Germany, lianas, w ith great emphasis, nominat- 
ed him as the hero destined to place the tri-coloured Hag on the 
tower of London. Troops were actually ass«;mbled on the coasts 
of Flanders and Normnndy for the purpose ; but Buonaparte him- 
self, seeing the impraclicabhlity of such an attempt, meditated a 
more distant expedition. 

13. In the course of the year 1,798, the system, began so suc- 
cessfully in Flanders and 1 lolland, of revolutionizing the countries 
into which the French armies should penetrate, was carried to a 
great extent. Watchful to seize upon every opportunity afforded 
them by internal dissensions, the French this year obtained posses- 
sion of Rome, Switzerland, the Tays de Vaud, the Grisons, and 

Ff2 



342 MODERN HISTORY. 

Geneva, under circumstances peculiarly distressing to the existing 
governments, and commonly attended with heavy exactions, and 
the plunder of their churches, palaces, and museums. The pope 
was driven from Rome, partly by his own subjects, and partly 
through an overweening confidence in his own power and influ- 
ence. The Roman republic was proclaimed February 15, 1,798; 
and the finances being found in a bad state, the Vatican and other 
public buildings stripped of their contents. The Pays de Vaud, 
whither the French had been invited, to protect them against the 
aristocratic despotism of the Bernese, was formed into the Leman, 
and Switzerland, after many cruel sacrifices, into the Helvetic re- 
public, or rather into three republics, for that was ultimately the 
arrangement adopted ; provisional governments being in all places 
appointed, conformably, in a great degree, to the principles of the 
French constitution. No remonstrances on the part of the free can- 
tons could save them from the directorial decrees. An address to 
this eifect, peculiarly pathetic and eloquent, from the cantons of 
Schwitz, LJri, Appenzel, Glaris, Zug, and Underwaiden, had no 
eifect wiiatever in preserving them from a change of constitution, 
forced upon them by democratic France. The degenerate Rotncms 
had appeared to pride themselves upon emulating their heroic an- 
cestors, in re-establishing the republic, under the auspices of Gallic 
invaders. But the brave Swiss resisted to the utmost the rude dis- 
turbers of their ancient freedom. The modern republicans of Rome 
chanted a Te Deum, to hallow their deliverance. The Swiss sung 
their antiquated songs of patriotism and freedom, till the most dire 
necessity compelled them to surrender their established constitution 
to the dictates of a French directory. 

14. On the 5th of May, Buonaparte left Pbris for Toulon, to take 
the command of an expedition, the real object of which has scarce- 
ly been ascertained to this day, though it appears most probable, 
that he designed to join Tippoo Saib in India, and to subvert the 
British empire there. He was accompanied by many artists, natu- 
ralists, and antiquarians, and a large proportion of the army which 
had served under him in Italy. Malta lying in his way to Egypt, 
lie liiiled not to take possession of it, partly by tbrce, and partly by 
intrigue, subjecting that island and its dependencies, Goza and Cumi- 
no, t(^. the French republic, June 12, 1,79B. Its conquest had for 
some time previously been meditated, but it had lately been put 
under the protection of the emperor of Russia, Paul I. : it was treated 
by tiie French as ill as other places, notwithstanding the utmost 
assurances to the contrary. The knights were driven from the 
island, many of the people compelled to join the French army, 
and new laws imposed under the authority of the directory. In the 
month of July, this year, 1798, a triumphant entry into Paris, of 
all the works of art collected in the several places subdued by the 
French arms, took place amid the acclamations of the people. The 
French fleet had narrowly escaped at Malta the pursuit of an Eng- 
lish one, under the command of Nelson ; and after the subductioa 
of the island, it was able to proceed, still undiscovered, to Egypt,) 
where the Ejiglish had already been to look for them in vain. On 
the 2d of July, Buonaparte took possession of Alexandria, mooring 
his fleet in the bay of Aboukir. In less than three weeks from his 
landing, and after a severe action with the Mamelukes, called the 
liaitle of the pyramids, Cairo, and the whole of the Delta fell into 
his power; but his triumph was lessened by the loss of his fleet, on 



MODERN HISTORY. 343 

the 1st of August, which, being attacked in the bay by Nelson, was 
almost totally destroyed or taken, the French admiral Brueys being 
killed and his ship burnt ; four ships only, two of them frigates, were 
all that escaped. When Buonaparte left Toulon, his fleet consisted 
of 400 sail, including thirteen ships of the line, and it was rather 
increased than otherwise by his enterprise at Malta. 

15. The victory of Nelson gave a new turn to the war against 
the French. On his quitting Egypt, he carried his fleet to Naples, 
where the utmost joy was manifested by the court at the blow which 
had been given to the French preponderance. The queen invoked 
the Austrians to renew the war against France ; and the expedition 
to Egypt and attack upon Malta having excited the czar, and even 
the grand seignior, to resist aggressions so unprovoked and alarming, 
Francis II. was not insensible to the call made upon him. England 
was not backward to encourage and aid such movements, in every 
part of Europe. The king of Sfxrdinia, and the grand duke of Tus- 
cany showed themselves willing to join the new contederacy ; but 
the king of Prussia was not to be prevailed on to abandon his neu- 
trality. 

16. The Neapolitan court, which had been the foremost to ex- 
cite this new war, were the first sufferers from it. Having invaded 
the territories of the church, and even obtained possession of Flome, 
they were suddenly driven back by the French, the capital taken, 
and the royal family compelled to retire to Palermo, in Sicily. Na- 
ples was not taken possession of without a formidable insurrection 
of that extraordinary portion of its population, the Lazzawni, with 
v.'hom the king, whose amusements were often unbecoming his high 
rank, happened to be popular. This resistance provoked reprisals 
exceedingly distressing to the inhabitants, and almost ruinous to 
the city; the tumult, however, was at length appeased, and the 
kingdom of Naples converted into the Parthenopean^ or Neapoliian 
republic. 

17. The king of Sardinia, and the grand duke of Tuscany were 
also made to pay dear for the renewal of hostilities, both being de- 
prived of their dominions, as allies of the Neapolitans, and com- 
pelled to abandon their capitals. The aged pope, who had indeed, 
by many unwise provocations, irritated the French, a refugee in 
the Tuscan territories, unwilling to accompany the deposed princes 
in their retreat from Florence, and too confidently relying on the 
reverence that would be paid to his years and station, was actually 
arrested in his monastic retirement, and conveyed to Valence, in 
Dauphiny, a prisoner, where he died broken hearted, August 29, 
1,799. On the establishment of the consular government, his body 
was honourably interred, and a monument erected over him. 

18. But the directory, in the midst of these arbitrary seizures of 
states and kingdoms, acted with too little foresight, as to the effects 
of the formidable confederacy of Russia and Austria. The French 
armies were widely separated, and many of the most successful 
generals, through a pernicious jealousy, disgraced and removed 
from their command. This disheartened the soldiers ; and reverses 
were preparing for them, both in Germany and Italy. The^Russian 
army, under Souvarofl", entered the latter country early in the spring 
of the year 1,799, and on the 18th of April was at Verona. The 
character and manners of this northern general, made a great im- 
pression both upon the allied armies, and upon the inhabitants of the 
countries he invaded. The French, under the celebrated Moreau, 



344 MODERN HISTORY. 

were obliged to fall back, leaving the Milanese exposed to the com- 
bined forces. After various actions, Milan was invested ; and, after 
a nineteen days' siege, taken May 24. Turin, Alessandria, Mantua, 
and Tortona, were reduced in the months of June and July ; and 
in most of these places, as well as in other parts of Italy, Tuscany, 
Naples, and Rome, great indignation was manifested against the 
French, of whose tyranny they had all tasted, and of whose friend- 
ship they were already become weary. In a short time the French 
retained, of all their conquests in those parts, only Genoa and Savoy. 
19. While these things were going on, the councils at Paris be- 
gan to distrust the government of the directors, and to ask why 
Buonaparte was at such a distance. Inquiries of this kind were 
often put to his brother Lucien, who had a seat in the council of 
five hundred. A party was formed against the most obnoxious of 
the directors, and three found it necessary to retire. Another revo- 
lution in the government was evidently preparing. Buonaparte's 
absence and object seemed equally mysterious. It was supposed 
that he meant to open the old channel of trade between the East 
Indies and the Mediterranean. After the destruction of his fleet, 
as though banished from France, he appeared eager to establish a 
colony in Egypt, which, perhaps, was originally in his view, in 
carrying thittier all that the arts and sciences of Europe could con- 
tribute of utility or beauty. All his works were superintended by 
persons of known celebrity for talent and knowledge of every de- 
scription ; but be was turned from this object by the jealousy of 
the Turks, who, after the battle of Aboukir, (or of the Nile, as it 
is generally called in England,) were ready enough to join the 
English in attacking the French, confined, as it were, within their 
territories. Buonaparte, to be beforehand with them, marched into 
Syria, where the pacha of Acre, a man of most ferocious character, 
commanded. He succeeded in taking many fortresses, and for 
three months maintained a war in the very heart of the country, 
but his artillery having been intercepted by the English, who had 
also been admitted into Acre, his attempts upon the latter place 
were frustrated, and, being threatened on all sides, he resolved to 
return to Egypt; there he received letters to inform him of the 
reverses in Italy, and the disorders at Paris, and to press his return ; 
but the Turks had landed at Aboukir, and taken possession of the 
fort, and it was judged necessary for his fame, that he should not 
quit Egypt without beating them. He hastened to attack them, 
and succeeded ; but not without many severe conflicts, and an eight 
days' siege of the fortress of Aboukir. Soon after this success, he 
embarked clandestinely for France, leaving the army under the com- 
mand of general Kleber, (who complained greatly of being so duped 
and aliandoned,) and in a very extraordinary manner escaped all the 
English ships cruising in the Mediterranean. 

20. Buonaparte ari'ived just in time to take advantage of the 
distracted state of the government. The legislature was a prey to 
faction ; the directors divided in opinion ; the jacobins and anarchists 
extremely troublesome, and not unhkely to recover their sway; 
while many departments were in a state of insurrection and civil 
war. Sieyes, the most wise and politic of all that had yet been in 
the directory, foresaw the necessity of a change, and wanted only 
some military genius to support his measures, and to whom he 
could confi,de his designs. Three other important characters ap- 
peared to rest their hopes on the interference of Buonaparte; 



MODERN HISTORY. 345 

Fouche, minister of police ; Cambaceres, minister of justice ; and 
the ex-minister for foreign aftairs, Talleyrand Perigord. 

21. Within a month after the arrival of Buonaparte, a proposal 
was made in the council of ancients, to remove the legislative bod- 
ies to St. Cloud, and to confer on Buonaparte the command of the 
troops at Paris. At the moment the decree ivas passed, Buonaparte, 
accompanied b}^ many of the generals \vho had distinguished them- 
selves under him, appeared at the bar, denouncing threats against all 
who should traverse the decree just passed. The council of five 
hundred, taken by surprise, made some show of resistance ; and Buo- 
niiparte appearing amongst them, gave such offence, that he was in 
danger of assassination, amidst the cries of "'Down with the tyrant !" 
"]\'o dictator!"' His brother Lucien, at that time president, was 
loudly called upon to pronounce a decree of outlawry against him, 
which he evaded by throwing aside his official dross, and renouncing 
his seat in the assembly ; after uhich, Buonaparte, in some alarm, 
liaving joined his troops, the meeting wastiissohed, and violently dis- 
persed by the soldiery. It was allowed however to assemble again 
under the former presidency, the Jacobinical members being excluded, 
when a new order of things, approved by the council of elders, was 
l)rought forward, decreed, and proclaimed. The directory was abol- 
ished, and ikree new chief magistrates appoint(>d under the name of 
consuls, while committees were formed to prepare a new constitu- 
tion." Eighty persons were to compose a senate, one hundred a 
tribunate, and three hundred a legislative body. 

22. The time seemed now to be arrived when tlie excesses of the 
I'evolutionary movement had prepared men's minds for a transition 
fi'om a state of anarchy to one of despotism. Popular liberty had 
fallen into disrepute, Irom the violences of the jacobins; and a 
strong executive government seemed indispen.'- tbly necssary to re- 
store thing's to any degree of order and consistency. Though the 
Jive directors appeared to be exchanged for three consuls, there 
{was, in the last instance, no correspondent division of power and 

authority. To the lirst consul were assigned functions and pre- 
rogatives exceedingly distinct li'om those of his colleagues. '• Unity 
of thought and action was declared to be a fundamental quality in 
the executive power." So far they were evidently going back to 
the lirst and best principles of monarchy. Hitherto, licweve/, an 
elective and limited consulate v.as all that was contemplated. ('Gen- 
eral Buonaparte was appointed first consul, Cambaceres the second, 
and Le Brun the third , the first two for ten, tlse last for only five 
/ears; Buonaparte, to say the least, having all the power of a king, 
hough not tiie name, assigned to him, — a power approachuig too 
near to absolute and uncontrollable despotism. 

23. In the first discharge of his new functions, however, he was 
cart'ful to display a spirit of moderation, forbearance, and conciliation, 
in uiany popuinr acts at home, and overtures of peace to England. 
The latter were without effect, and a large subsidy being granted by 
^he lii'ilish parliament, to enable the emperor to continue the war, 
no time was lost by the F'rench in endeavouring to recover llteir 
footing in Italy. In the month of May, 1,G0C1, the first consul^ left 
Paris, to take "the command of the psmy in those parts ; and after a 
most surprising passage through the mountainous parts of Switzer- 
land, and the capture of the town of Costa, with the celebrated fort 
of Bard, succeeded so far as to be able to enter Milan once more ia 
uiumph, the Austrians retiring before him, little expecting that he 

14- 



346 MODERN HISTORY. 

could find a. way into Lombardy by the road he had chosen. The 
Russian army had been withdravvn in disgust, after the proceedings in 
Switzerland, which had greatly oflended the czar. Previously to 
the entrance of the first consul into Milan, the French, under Masse- 
na, had been compelled to evacuate Genoa : but the Austrians were 
doomed to suffer a reverse ; and though in the famous battle of 
Marengo, which took place on the 14th of June, they fought with 
the most desperate courage, and sustained an action of fourteen 
hours with great heroism, and the fairest prospects of success, the 
enemy received reinforcements at so critical a moment as to enable- 
them to obtain a complete victory, which was soon followed by a sus- 
pension of hostiiilies, solicited by the Austrian general, 

24. Negotiations for peace were entered into at Paris, and the 
preliminaries uere signtid ; but, through the remonstrances of the 
Eiigliih government, (as it is supposed.) the emperor refused his 
rauiicalion, and the war was continued, both in Germany and Italy, 
till the 25th of December, 1,800, wlien another suspension of iioslil- 
id:^s being iigreed to, al^eyen, a town in Upper Austria, soon led 
to the treaiy oi' Lioieville^eUveeu the French republic and the tuipire, 
signed February 0, 1801 j; by which the Rhine v^'as made the boun- 
d;u-y of the French r^iuTjlic, leaving the several princes dispossessed, 
i:i part or in w] ole, of their terrilories on the left side of the river, 
to be indemnihcd in the bosom of the empire ; the Adige, in the 
same raarm?r, being tixed to be the boundary between the Austrian 
territori'^'S in Italy and the Cisalpine republic. The Grand duke of 
Tuscany renounced his dukedom in lavour of the infant duke of 
Parma, created king of Etruria ; and the independence of the Bata- 
vian, iieivctic, and Cisalpine republics, was recognised and guaran- 
tied by both parties. 

25. The English government had refused to enter into a naval 
armistice, though in danger of being deserted by tlie emperors of 
Germany and Russia, and had declined every oiler of peace upon 
such terms, while M.Uta and Egypt continued in the hands of France. 
But after tiie re-captui-e of tb.e former, and the defeat of the French 
under M^nou, at Alexandria, in September, 1,801, both parlies seem- 
ed more disposed than before to enter into negofiation, ^vilil serious 

.■.views of Iirin^ing things to an accommodation. On March 27th, 
(.1,802, a deiiuiiive treaty was signed at Amiens, more favourable to 
France that to England,, though nothing could' exceed the joy ex- 
pressed in the latter country, oPi tLe termination of hostilities with 
tne French republic. It was soon found to be no better than a truce 
of ver}' siiori dur.ition. 

26. The power of the French republic at this moment was enor- 
mously great. In addition to the ibrmer possessions of" France, it 
had gained the Netherlands, and a considerable portion of Germany ; 
Geneva, l^iedmont, and Savoy had been incorporated with it ; Hol- 
land and Switzerland were rendered effectually dependent upon it. 
The Cisalpine republic, including the Milanese, the duchies of Mo- 
dena, Mantua, and Parma, and part of the \ enetian and Roman ter- 
ritories, was placed under the presidency of the first consul, for a 
term of ten years. Genoa, or the Ligurian republic, had been re- 
covered^ by the treaty of Luneville ; Spain was entirely at the com- 
mand of i^ Vance, as well as T.\iscany, under its new possessor, the 
vassal king of Etruria. It had recovered also its West Indian settle- 
ments, and acquired a considerable footing in South America. 



MODERN HISTORY. 347 



SECTION XVI. 

FRANCE, FROM THE PEACE OF AMIENS TO THE TREATY 
OF TILSIT, 1,807. 

1. It has already been observed, that the first steps of the con- 
sulate were of a conciliator}' nature. Endeavours were made to 
pacify the rebellious departments ; the law of hostage, which had 
been in its operation extremely vexatious, was repealed; and the 
list of emigrants closed. On the first change of the government, 
measures were taken to repress the violence of the jacobins, and 
awe the tactions ; but the sentences passed on the most obnoxious 
were at'tervvards mitigated. 

2. Soon after the conclusion of the peace of Amiens, the first 
consul gave great satisfaction to the bulk of the nation, by restoring 
the cathoiic religion; On Easter-day, 1,802, the peace was ratilied 
in the metropolitan church, with all the sanctions of the ancient 
religious forms, and a large attendance of new prelates. The basis 
of tTie convontion with the pope had been settled and arranged in 
the preceding yea:, upon the ibllowing principles: — That a new 
division of the French diocLscs should be made, suited to tlie re- 
publican division of t!ie coun;ry ; and tliat the ih'st consul should 
nominate the nev»' archbishops and bishops, leaving it to the pope, 
as a matter of course, to confer canonical institutions. The bishops 
to appoint the parish priests, sul-ject to the approbation of govern- 
ment. The pope to procure tlie ancient bishops to resign, and to 
engage not to disturb the alienated property of the church. No 
bull, rescript, &,c., from the court of Rome, no decrees of synods, or 
general councils, to be received, or promulgated, without the consent 
of government. No national or diocesan meeting to take place with- 
out the same authority ; or any nuncio, legate, or vicar, to be allow- 
ed to exercise his functions. 

3. Such were some of the principal articles of the concordatnm 
of 1,801. The pope seemed to be glad to make any concessions 
that might recover France from the depths of infidelity ; while the 
articles themselves plainly siiovv that the first consul, in restoring 
Catholicism, had no intention to subject the nation, as heretofore, to the 

'dominion of the Roman see, even in spiritual matlei-s. A still strong- 
er proof, however, of which, appears in the liberty afibrded, at the 
same time, to the Lutherans ami C.dvinists, who were placed nearly 
upon the same footing with the catholics; and Avere even allowed to 
have three seminaries of education ; two in the eastern parts of France, 
for the Lutherans, and one at Geneva, lor the Calvinists. Provision 
was also made in the new concordatum for the supposed case of a 
protestant being chosen chief magistrate of the republic. 

4. On the second of August, 1,802, by an extraordinary expres- 
sion of the public v, ill, the consulate, tiie term of which, in the case 
of Buonaparte and Cambaceres, had been limited to ten years, was 
conferred on the former for life. The original proposal had been 
only to extend the term ; but the people in the diilerent communes 
being called upon to give their opinion, voted, almost unanimous- 
ly, for its being continued to the first consul tor life, which was 
readily sanctioned by the senate. 



548 MODERN HISTORY. 

5. This appointment was soon followed by a new form of con- 
stitution, calculated to throw greater power into the hands of the 
tirst magistrate, who was permitted, not only to nominate his col- 
leagues, but to make war, tbrm alliances, conclude peace, pardon 
criminals, and virtually to choose the members of the legislative 
body, !)y means of the senate, which was nlmost entirely under 
his inilucnce. He was careful, at the same lime, to put the govern- 
ments of the Cisalpine and Liguriau republics, and other newly ac- 
quired states, upon a similar footing, reserving to himselt', in all cases, 
the supreme power as tirst magistrate. AH these steps were so art- 
fully taken, as to appear to be the regular result of popular ciiuice 
and deliberation. Liberty, equality of chil rights, and national 
representation, were protessed to be the objects in view ; but care 
was taken to render each dependent on the domineering intiuence 
and directions of the tirst consvd. It was at tliis period that the Cisal- 
pine was converted into the Italian republic. 

6. Switzerland was not so easily to be brought under the French 
yoke, though its struggles for liljerty and independence were hnaily 
unavailing. Many of the cantons displayed an almost invincible at- 
tachment to their ancient constitution, and resisted, in every way 
they could, the menaced i:ivasiou of their rights and privileges; but 
the more tlioy were tlivided amongst themselves, which mihappily 
proved to be the case to a high d'^gree, the greater opportunity was 
afforded to^the despotic ruler of France to ititorpose his otlices to 
restore peace, nominally as a mediator, but really and elfectuaily to 
the sui>jugation of the country, which, when reiluced, was in mockery 
declared to be iVee and independent. Remonstrances on the part of 
the English court, are supposed toliave had some etfect in mitigating 
the rigour of his exactions, and rendering the new constitution pre- 
pared for tliem, more congenial to their teelings than might other- 
wise have been the case. 

7. In 1,802, by the death of the duke of Parma, and in virtue of 
a previous convention \\ith Spain, the lirst consul, in the name of the 
French republic, took possession of the duchies of Farma, Flacentia, 
and Guastaiia, and incorporated them soon alter with France. The 
only son of the deceased duke of Parma, by a Spanish princess, 
having assigned to him by the treaty of Luneville, the Tuscan states, 
untler the tiile of the kingdom of I.truria. 

o. Though, by the above treaty, the indemnification of those 
princes, wliose rights and property had suJi'ered from the progress 
of the French, seemed to be left chietly to the decision of the diet ' 
.of the empire, Buonaparte found means to interfere to his own ad- 
vantage, favouring those most from whom he had the most to fear, or 
who were most hkciy to be subservient to his views. For the duke 
of Wirtemburgh, the landgrave of Hesse Cassel, and the margrave 
of Baden, he secured the electoral dignity ; while the judcmnitica- 
tions were provided for by the secularization of many ecclesiastical 
states on the right side of the Rhine. j 

9. It was soon found that, by the peavce of Amiens, Utile cordiality ' 
was produced between the two nations^ The tirst consul professed'' 
to be bound by that treaty only to particular specitjed points, and 
appeared through his agenis, secret or avowed, to be preparing tor , 
a renewal of hostilities. He had some reason, it must be confessed,- 
to be oifcnded with the liberties taken with him in some of the pub- ' 
lie journals of England at this time ; and thotigh it can scarcely be 
supposed that peace could be his object, yet he appears to have 



MODERN HISTORY. 349 

been provoked and irritated by the distrust of the British govern- 
ment and nation. So early as the month of May, 1,803, the two 
countries may be said to have been again in a state of war with 
each other. 

10. On this quick renewal of hostilities, the first consul had re- 
course to a most extraordinary measure, ki detaining all the Eng- 
lish who happened to have come over to France during the peace, 
for business or pleasure, as a sort of hostages for the tuture conduct 
of their country. He also projected a powerful invasion of Eng- 
land^ which had only the effect of rousing the latter country to such 
vigorous and patriotic exertions as entirely to frustrate all his 
schemes and intentions. A levy en masse was proposed, subject 
to the regulations of parliament. As another act of vengeance 
against England, an army was sent to occupy Hanover, though the 
king, in his electoral capacity, had determined to remain neuter. 

11. The hrst consul had now, for some time, exercised not only 
kingly, but almost despotic power, and artfully placed himself in 
such a situation of control and influence, with regard to all the 
public bodies, assemblies, and councils of the nation, that it is not 
to be wondered that he should have aspired to, and obtained, the 
highest dignities it is in the power of a nation to bestow ; though, 
had he acted with less prudence and policy, nothing certainly could 
have occurred more surprising than the undisturbed elevation of a 
Corsican adventurer to one of the most s,plendid thrones of Europe. 
By an organic senatus consultum of the 18th of May 1,804, Buona- 
parte was declared Emperor of the Fi^ench. The title to be he- 
reditary, as to his immediate descendants, and, in case of failure of 
male issue, granting him a further powder to adopt the children, or 
grand-children, of his brothers. All laws were to originate with 
the sovereign, or to be proposed in his name ; and due care was 
taken, by rendering the legislative body and tribunate dependent on 
the senate, in the appointment of which the emperor was to have 
almost the whole power, to prevent the passing of any laws contrary 
to his will. The imperial title thus conferred on him, was acknowl- 
edged by most of the states of Europe, though not by England. 

12. This assumption of the imperial title, by Napoleon Buona- 
parte, and the subsequent confederation of the Rhine, led the em- 
peror of Germany, Francis II., to abdicate the Germanic empire, and 
to change his title to that of emperor of Austria, thereby securing 
the same hereditary honour to the house of Hapsburg, and at the 
same time, not entirely resigning his political relationship to the 
states and empire of Germany. 

13. On the 2d of December, 1,804, Napoleon was crowned, in 
the church of Notre Dame, with extraordinary pomp and splendour, 
having previously invited, or rather compelled the humbled pontifi' 
of Rome to be present at the ceremony, and to anoint him. His 
empress, Josephine Beauharnois, to whom he had been some time 
married, was crowned at the same time. 

14. One of the first acts of the new emperor was to change the 
name of the Code civil des /"^a/icais, introduced under the consular 

fovernment, for that of the Code JVapolecm. His two brothers, 
oseph and Lewis, and his two colleagues, Le Brun and Cambaceres, 
were declared grand elector, conskihle, arch-chunccllor, and arch-lrcas- 
urer, of the empire ; and the dignity of mareschal was conferred on 
the most distinguished of his generals. But, in order to give more 
stability to his throne, or intimidate his enemies, un'^'-^r pretence of a 
Gg 



h 



350 MODERN HISTORY. | 

royalist conspiracy, he had many eminent persons brought to'trlal ; 
among others, the two celebrated generals, Fichegrn .nnd Moreau. 
The.l'ormer was, soon alter, found dead in his prison, nnder circum- 
stances implying little less than a most deliberate murder; the latter, 
an equal object of dread and alarm, and whose death was probabljr 
contemplated, was permitted, however, to retire to jVorth Americal> 
It is scarcely credible, though it certainly appears upon record, that 
the French minister at Horlin was directed to move the king of Prus- 
sia to deliver up the untbrtuiiate Lewis X\ 111., then at Warsaw, and 
to send him to France, to answer for the concern he was staled to , 
have had in this conspiracy. 

15. Having obtain'^d th«' imperial dignity in France, Napoleon ap- 
eared dissatisfied to be only president of a republic with regard to 
lis Cisalpine conquests. Means were foniul to induce the constituted 
authorities of the new Italian republic to olTer to biin the crown of 
Italv, an offer he was quite pn'pared to accept, as though the whole 
of that devoted courUry had been already subdued. On the 'JGth of 
May, 1,8(J5, he repaired to Milan, and taking the famous iron crown 
from the altar of the cathedral, placed it on his own head, denouncing 
vengeance against all who should dispute his right to it. Having 
done ttiis, he appointed the son ot tlie empress Josephine, Beauhar- 
nois, to be his viceroy, and agreed, that upon his death the two 
crowns should be separated. .Soon after he seized upon Genoa, dis- 

i)ossrs>'ed the doge and senators of llieir power, and decreed, that 
lenceforth the territories of the Ligurian republic, as it was called, 
should be annexed to France. These rapacious proceedings at length 
provoked a fresh confederacy against him, so that before the year 
was passed, not only England, but Kussj;), Prussia, and Austria, were 
in amis to resist his encroachments. Swe<len had joined the conled- 
rracv, but retired in disgust. Such, however, was the dread of the 
power or vengeance of France, that several ol' the German princes, 
partictilarly the elector of Bavaria, sided with Napoleon, in opposi- 
tion to the em})eror Francis. 

IG. By sea, the power of the French and Spaniards combined failed 
of gaining any adv;intages over the allies. On the 21st of October, 
l..'!ur), in the l)attle of 'I'rafalgar, a complete victory was obtained liy 
tbe liritish lleet, under lord Nelson, who perished in the action. 
There was a disparity in the number of ships, in favour of the French 
and Spaniards, of thirty-three to twenty-seven. On the continent, 
the course of the war was very different. The king of Prussia was 
dilatory in his proceedings, and even treacherous. Sweden had 
withdrawn. The emperor Francis employed an inefficient com- 
mander, if not worse, (general Mack,) and the Russians, wbo were 
more in earnest, were baffled Uy the unsteady proceedings of their 
allies, and distressed by want of provisions, sicknes.s, and fatigue. 
After the battle of Austerlitz, in Dereniber, the emperor ol" .\uslria, 
whose capital had been in the hands of tbe enemy, solicited peace, 
submitting to surrender what had been allotted to hiin of tbe N'enetian 
territories, together with the principalities of Lucca and i'ioml;ino ; 
and to acknowledge Buonaparte as king of Italy. Bavaria acquiied 
a part of the Brisgaw and Tyrol. Such were the terms of the peace 
ot Presbnrgh, October, 1,804. 

17. The succession of some of the German states from the empe- 
ror of Austria, had. in the mean time, produced clumges that require 
to be noticed. The electors of Bavaria and Wirtemburgh were 
elevated to the rank of kmgs of their respective countries ; and 



MODERN HISTORY. 361 

Eugene Beauharnois, viceroy of Italy, son of the French empress 
Josephine, obtained in marriage the daughter of the new king of 
Bavaria, though she had been previously betrothed to the prince of 
Baden. 

18. The court of Naples, during this war, through the injudi- 
cious, but natural, resentment of the queen, sister to the late im- 
fortunate queen of France, had the misfortune to incur the high dis- 

{)leasure of Napoleon, by admitting a British and Russian army to 
and on its territories. The French despot lost no time in pionounc- 
ing sentence on the rebellious neutral. He quickly made it known 
that the Bourlton dynasty bad ceased to reign at Naples. The royal 
family was compelled to retire to Palermo, and in a short time after, 
Napoleon conferred the Neapolitan crown on bis brother Joseph, 
much to the discontent, however, of the people, who for some time 
gave him great disturbance. Joseph was proclaimed king, March 
30, 1,8()G. 

19. The emperor of the French had another kingdom in view for 
his brother Lewis, constable of I'rance. Holland had submitted to 
several form>< of government, without obtaining that order and tran- 
quillity which was supposed to be in the contemplation of those 
nbo directed her affairs. It was suggested that a monarchy would 
reinidy all the disorders to which she was exposed; and it was hint- 
ed, too plainly to be misundei-stood, that it would be agreeable to the 
emperor, if the lending persons of the state, not the community at 
large, would give couMtenaiice to such a change. So great was the 
infatuation, or timidity, of the persons to whom these suggestions 
were mado, that they did ii>>t scruple to solicit the appointment of 
the emperors broths, who declared himself king ot Holland ac- 
cordingly, June 5, 1,80G. To the credit of the new king, it should 
be observed, that he soon fell into disgrace with his imperial brother, 
by being too lenient to his subjects, and by endeavouring to mitigate 
the rigour of the French decrees. 

20. In the year 1,806, Napoleon succeeded in subverting the 
constitution ol the German empire, by detaching many of the prin- 
cipal states, chiefly of the western and southern divisions of Ger- 
many, to form what was denominated " The ('onfederiilion of the 
Rhine,"' by which the several princes consented to renounce the 
laws of the empire, to contract a federative alliance with the 
French emperor, and to supply him with troops whenever he should 
deuiand them. In consecpience of this gross defection of so many 
membei-s, the emperor, by a solemn edict, abdicated the govern- 
ment of the Germanic em])ire, absolving all the electors, princes, 
and states, from the obligations by which they stood bound to him, 
as their legitimate head ; thereby terminating, as it were, a gov- 
ernment which had subsisted for a thousand years, and been un- 
interruptedly confided to the house of Hapsburgh from the year 
1,133. 

21. It seemed as if ever>' thing, at this time, was doomed to fall 
before the power of the Coi-sican. Prussia, which had hitherto 
acted a most unwise part, in neglecting to add its weight to the 
confederacy of l,80t, and even submitting to be cajoled into an 
alliance with France, became, in the course of the year 1,800, sen- 
sible of her error; but to no good purpose. She now precijjitately 
entered into a war for which she was ill-prepared ; with no sup- 
port but that of Saxony ; and having put her army under the com- 
mand of the duke of biiuibwick, sustained two signal and almost 



352 310DERN HISTORY. 

fatal defeats, at Jena and Averstadt, laying the capital open to the 
advance of the enemy, who entered it in tiiumph ; and, oeing too 
well received and entertained by the people, did not fail, as in all 
other cases, to take due advantage of their willing submission. In 
the course of the contest, the Saxons were detached from Prussia, 
and the duke of Brunswick being wounded, and obliged to quit his 
dominions on the advance of the French, died miserably at Altona: 
Napoleon, in resentment, meanly refusing to sutler his body to be 
buried amongst his ancestors. 

22. It was during his sojournment in Berlin, November, 1,806, 
that the French emperor dictated that extraordinary decree, de- 
claring the British islands to be in a stale of blockade, though he 
had no naval force capable of interrupting their commerce in any 
part of the wond. By this decree, the whole trade of Britain was 
proscribed ; no intercourse of any sort was allowed to take place ; 
all British subjects on the co^itinent were threatened with arrest and 
contiscation ol property, and every port shut against English ves- 
sel:-, in Prussia, iJenmark, the llanse towns, Holland, Flanders, 
France, Spain, Italy, k.c. 

23. The progress of the French, in the territories of the king of 
Prussia, occasioned fresh alarm to the emperor of Russia, and to 
the British government, and procured for Frederick that assistance 
\vhich his former supineness and intrusion on the Hanoverian states 
might very reasonably have rendered hopeless. The king of Swe- 
den was also subsidized by England, to send an array into Pome- 
rania ; but all the efforts of the allies were insufficient to stop the 
career of the French. The Russians fought many severe battles, 
at Eylau, Friedland, &.C., but were unable to prevent the French 
gelling possession of Dantzic and Konigsberg ; losses so severely 
telt by the king of Prussia, as to compel him to conclude a separate 
peace, as a conquered enemy ; while Napoleon, with consummate art, 
not only persuaded .^lexamler to abandon the king of Prussia to his 
fate, but to form an alliance with himself, for the further spoliation 
of the Prussian domiuif>us, and to concur in arrangements very 
adverse to the general interests of Europe, and serviceable only to 
his onn hunily. By the treaty of Tilsit, July, 1,807, the emperor 
of Russia agreed to acknowledge tiie Rhenish confedemcy, now 
consisting of many states, and Joseph and Leu-is Buonaparte, as kings 
of Naples and Holland. He suffered the French emperor to confer 
on his youngest brother, Jerome^ with the title of king of Westpha- 
lia, the Prussian j)n)vinces between the Elbe and the Rhine, the 
states of Hanover, and the territories of the duke of Brunswick, and 
lamlgrave of Hesse Cassel, while the greater part of Prussian Poland 
was giviMi to the elector (now king) of Saxony, with the title of duke 
of \Vars;tw ; and by secret articles, as it has been alleged, most of 
the usurpations of the French, in all parts of Europe, were sanc- 
tioned and conlirmed. During the whole of the years 1,806 and 
'^,807, the German states were undergoing continual changes, 
through the overbearing tyranny of Napoleon. All the princes who 
joiaed ihe Rhenish coiitederation were rewarded ^vith titles or ter- 
ritorial possessioijis ; all who favoured the allies, dispossessed of 
their doiviinions, iud declared enemies of France. To particularize 
all the;58 revolutions, few of which were permanent, would exceed 
the limits of the present work. 

24. Among other acquisitions resulting from the treaty of Tilsit, 
Napoleon recovered the Ionian islands. These inlands, subsequent 



MODERN HISTORY. 353 

to the treaty of Campo-Formio, had been greatly agitated and dis- 
turbed, and it seemed difficult to know wliat to do with them, in 
March, 1,800, however, by a convention between Russia and the 
Porte, it was settled that Corfu, Cephalouia, Zante, Ithaca, Cerigo, 
St. fthuiro, and Paxo, should be formed into one state, under the 
guarantee of the contracting parties, by the name of the Ionian 
reiMiblic. By the treaty of Amiens, 1,802, Napoleon engaged to 
acknowledge the Septinsular republic ; but, by the treaty of Tilsit, 
it was restored to him again by Russia. This treaty, in short, ap- 
peared to be dictated entirely by the despot oi' France. Prussiaj 
abandoned by her Russian ally, suffered dreadfully. The king ot 
Sweden refused to become a parly to this memorable convention, 
and manifested a determination to resist, to the titmost, the en- 
croachments of the French ; but he had little judgment or prudence 
to direct him ; and he had not the means to contend against such an 
adversary as Ruonaparte. After many inefl'ectual attempts to save 
Stralsund, and keep his army in Fomerania, he was at length 
compelled to retire, with the loss both of Stralsund and the isle of 
Rugen. 



SECTION XVII. 

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL FROM 1,788 TO 1,814. 

1. These two countries are by nature so connected, that though 
their interests are, and generally have been, very different, and 
the peo])le little disposed to friendly associations, yet, witii regard 
to the alTairs of Europe, they have very commonly been involved 
in the same troubles, and never long permitted to enjoy tranquillity, 
while the leading powei"softhe continent have been engaged in war. 
This has been alrrady sulHciently maniteslcd in the history of these 
two contiguous kingdoms, during the former part of the eighteenth 
century, but has been rendered still more conspicuous by the events 
of the subsequent years. 

2. Charles IV. of Spain, came to the crown in December, 1,788^ 
when the French revolution >vas just beginning; and it was not till 
some few yeai-s alter, and in the midst of the reign oi' terror, that 
his kingdom became involved in the disturbances of that great catas- 
trophe. The Spaniards, in the year 1,7!)3, otVended with the vio- 
lence oflered to the royal iiunily of France, had invaded the latter 
country, and taken the town of Rellgarde, little J'oreseeing the 
speedy and severe reprisals to which they were exposing them- 
selves. Early in the year 1,7'Jl, the French, under {general Dugom- 
mier, invaded Spain, and succeeded, not only in beating tlie Spanish 
army, but in securing the occupation of many places of importance. 
These successes were not only available to the restoration of peace 
with Spain, but procured for the French, by the ti'eaty of 1,795, the 
Spanish portion of the valuable island of St. Domingo, in ti»e West 
Indies, and, in 1.79C, an alliance with the Spanish monarch against 
England, — an alliance tatal to Spain in many respects ; her fleet be- 
ing beaten by the English in battle, off the cape of St. Vincent, the 
island of Trinidad taken from her. and retained by Great Britain 
at the peace of Amiens, and her commerce crippled and impeded 
in all parts of the world. 

3. Though she sought, by a large subsidy to France, to be per- 

Cia9 4ri 



S54 MODERN HISTORY. 

mitted to remain neuter, after the renewal of the war in 1,803, yet 
she was not long allowed to be at peace. In 1,804,, the English, sus- 
picious of her close connexion with France, seized upon some of her 
treasure ships, coming from South America, with a suddenness judg- 
ed by many to be not strictly justitiable ; and, in 1,805, war was form- 
ally declared against Great Britain. But in this new war she was 
again doomed to suffer misfortune, her fleet being totally beaten by 
lord Nelson, on the 1st of October, 1,805, in the celebrated battle off 
cape Trafalgar. (See Sect. XVI., § 16.) 

4. During the year 1,806, Spain appeared disposed to break with 
France, had any misfortune befallen the latter power ; but her suc- 
cesses in Prussia seem to have intimidated Spain, and to have in- 
duced her, in 1,807, through the manoeuvres of Godoy, the Spanish 
minister, who had a view to the principality of Aigarves, to enter 
into a regular treaty with France, for the partition of Portugal. 

5. Hitherto the latter country, since the elevation of Buonaparte 
to the chief magistracy, had been suffered to remain neuter. 1 he 
reigning queen having been declared insane, the power had devolved 
to the prince of Brazil, crown prince, in 1,799, who, in virtue of his 
purchased neutrality, had been able to keep his commercial relations 
with England, unmolested by the French, till the treaty just mention- 
ed between the latter power and Spain. 

6. France was not long in availing herself of the permission she 
had obtained to march an army through Spain, for the subjugation of 
Portugal. Having made demands on the regent of Portugal, with 
which he could not, in honour, comply, it was declared that the house 
of Braganza had ceased to reign ; and, shortly afterwards, the French 
army, under general Junot, passed the frontiers. In these extremi- 
ties, instigated by the English, the royal family determined to embark 
for America. They set sail on the '21st of November, l,807j and, 
on the 30th, Junot, with his army entered Lisbon. 

7. The state of Spain, at this period, was undoubtedly such 
as to encourage the most ambitious views of the French emperor. 
Nothing could exceed the weakness of the court of Madrid, or the 
confusion of the national afiiairs. At the very moment of the parti- 
tion treaty, the hereditary prince, Ferdinand, who had I'efused to 
marry the minister's sister-in-law, on the suggestion of the court, 
was arrested, imprisoned, and threatened with a criminal prosecution, 
for having secretly sought a matrimonial alliance with Buonaparte's 
taiaiiy. This was followed by disturbances, and the imprisonment 
of the obnoxious minister, Godoy, duke of Alcudia, and, since the 
convention of 1,795, generally called the "• prince of peace.'" 
Charles IV., harassed and distressed by these tunmlts, was induced, 
on the 19th of March, 1,808, to resign his crown in fiivour of his 
son, now become Ferdinand Vll. ; but he soon afterwards revoked 
his abdication, as forced upon him, and extorted by the dread of 
personal violence. Nothing could be more directly calculated to 
promote the views of Buonaparte than tliese divisions, whose con- 
stant policy it was, in all cases of premeditated conquest, to promote 
dissension, in order to be called in as an arbitrator or mediator, 
which was the case in this instance. After Buonaparte had been 
baffled in his hopes of compelling the king and queen to emigrate, 
through the resistance of the people of Spain to such a measure, 
the whole royal family were invited to repair t« Bayonne, to confer 
on the state of affairs ; an invitation the most insidious, but which 
had its effect. On the 14lh of April Buonaparte arrived there; Fei- 



MODERN HISTORY. 335 

dinand on the 20th, and on the 1st of Blay, Charles TV. and his queen, 
after the favourite, Godoy, had been released, on their application to 
Buonaparte. 

8. The transactions at Bayonne exceeded almost every thing to 
be met with in any preceding history. The persons invited were 
exactly those whom Buonaparte would have been glad to have seen 
driven into his toils : in this case they were weak enough to go 
thither of their own accord. Having the two kings completely in 
his power, and beyonti the frontier of Spain, he compelled Charles 
to resume his authority, on purpose that he might resign it into the 
hands of the French, proposing, on the terms of an equivalent else- 
where, a similar act of renunciation on the part of Ferdinand; 
which the latter indignantly refusing, was at once declared to be 
excluded from all he had, and all he might have had, and even 
threatened with the loss of liberty. This so intimidated the degrad- 
ed prince, that at length he unconditionally resigned his royal digni- 
ty, first into the hands of his father, and through him, into those of 
Buonaparte, who soon obtained, though in a manner the most extra- 
ordinary, the consent of most of the principal personages of the state, 
as well as of the constituted authorities, to the appointment of his 
brother Joseph, then king of Naples, to the vacant Spanish throne, 
and to render it hereditary in the family of the usurper. In the 
mean while, Ferdinand was sent to Valancey, and afterwards to Fon- 
tainebleau, as a prisoner, and Charles and liis queen to Compiegne : 
their joint abdication of the Spanish crown was publicly announced 
at Madrid on tlie 20th of May, to the great disgust of the Spanisii 
people in general, who soon resolved to be revenged for the horrid 
indignities they were made to undergo. 

9. In the course of the very month in which all the transactions 
at Bayonne took place, and Joseph Buonaparte entered the capital 
of Spain as king, the national resentment was manifested by a gen- 
eral rising, and insurrection in all the principal provinces ; but it 
was tirst in Andalusia that any thing hke an organized government 
was formed for the conduct of the war, on the part of the patriots; 
there, a provincial junta, or council of magistrates, inhabitants, 
and constituted authorities, was formed, at Seville, which led to 
other conventions of the same nature, in places least molested by 
the French, and in all of these Ferdinand Vll. was proch'imed king, 
and war openly denounced against the French, accompanied with 
proclamations and manifestoes, highly creditable to the good sense, 
spirit, ardour, and patriotism of the Spanish nation, and expressed 
in terms very riiiferent from the language to which the FYench ty- 
rant had been accustomed. Joseph Buonaparte entered &pain on 
the 9th of July, 1,808, escorted by tour thousand Italian troops, and 
followed by upwanis of one hundred carriages, conveying his suite 
and the members of the junta assembled at Bayonne, to assist at his 
inauguration. He was ill received, or rather sullenly treated by the 
inhabitants, on his passage to the capital. Joseph entered Madrid 
on the 20th of July ; at which vsry time the Spaniards obtained an 
important victory over a French army marching upon Cadiz, which 
were compelled to capitulate to the amount of fourteen thousand 
men, while the French fleet at Cadiz was seized by the vigilance 
and activity of don Thomas Morla. These successes on the part 
of the Spaniards, compelled the new king to retire from the capital 
to Burgos, after plundering the treasury and securing the crown 
jewels. 



356 MODERN HISTORY. 

10. In the mean while, it was soon discovered that the aid of 
other powers would be wanted, in order to rescue the kingdom and 
peninsula from the grasp of Napoleon. Application was accordingly 
made to the court of London, to the Swedes, and to the Portuguese 
and Austrians. The former^ paid a ready and wilhng attention to 
thecal!; and the whole' British nation evinced, in an extraordinary 
manner, the utmost desire to render effectual assistance to Spain, 
whose cause seemed to be justly interesting to every friend of freedom. 

11. While these things were passing in Spain, a similar spirit 
had arisen in Portugal, against the tyranny and usurpations of the 
French ; and the arrival of a British army, in the month of August, 
under sir Arthur Wellesley, (afterwards duke of Wellington,) gave 
timely effect to these patriotic movements. The relief of Portugal 
was sooner accomplished than proved to be the case afterwards 
with Sp^iin. On the 21st of August a decisive battle took place, at 
Vimiera, between the French and combined armies of English and 
Portuguese ; in which the former were so entirely beaten as to be 
obliged to evacuate the country ; and which they were enabled to 
do, by a convention concluded al Ciutra, under circumstances consid- 
ered far too favourable, by Europe in general, and which was re- 
sented by the people of England. 

12. The evacuation of Portugal, however, at all events, set an 
army fi'ee for the use of Spain, which, at the latter end of the 
month of October, to the amount of twenty thousand men, entered 
that country, under the command of sir John Moore; the emperor 
Napoleon having quilted Paris just about t!ie same time, to take 
the command of the Ei'ench army there. Unfortunately, the state 
of Spain at the moment of this hrst attempt on the part of England, to 
give aid to the patriots, was such as greatly to embarrass tlie British 
commander : he had been taught (or rather, the government at home 
had been so) to expect a strenuous co-operation on the part of the 
Spaniards; in which he was exceedingly disappointed, while he 
continually received advice of the augmentation of the French 
forces, to an amount far exceeding all his calculations : nor did he 
consider even his own army so well-appointed as to enable him 
to contend, in the heart of the kingdom, whither he was directed to 
proceed, with any fair probabilit}' of success. He was evidently 
dispirited with the prospect before him; and though a perfectly 
brave oflicer, felt himself so ill-supported by the Spaniards, at least, 
by those who directed the public affairs, (if not even deceived and 
betrayed,) and so embarrassed by want of money and other supplies, 
as to be compelled to retire. The retreat of his army, though un- 
happily disgraced by many irregularities and disorders amongst the 
soldiery, was conducted, in the face of the enemy, (Buonaparte him- 
self being sometimes present,) with singular courage and dexterity, 
till they reached Corunna, where, at last, the transports not being 
arrived, an action with the pursuing army took place, which 
terminated in favour of the English, though with the loss of the gal- 
lant, but unfortunate, commander, whose death was greatly lamented.. 
After this action, on the arrival of the transports, the English troops 
embarked without molestation, and on the 18th of January, 1,809, 
set sail for England. 

13. Before sir John Moore finally determined upon retiring, he 
had learned that Buonaparte had recovered possession of the capi- 
tal, whicb, after the departure of Joseph, the patriots had endeav- 
oured to forthy and defend ; but it was" surrendered to the enemy 



MODERN HISTORY. 357 

early in the month of December, 1,808, by the temporary governor, 
Don Thomas Morla. Spain was far from being subdued at the close 
of the year 1,808, though the aspect of things was alarming, and 
the French extremely confident of success. Joseph re-entered 
Madrid, in great pomp, in January, 1,809. In the mean time, Napo- 
leon had decreed that the inquisition should be abolished, many mon- 
asteries suppressed, and the leudal privileges abrogated. 

14. After the aflTair of Corunna, the French army under general 
Soult, (duke of Dalmatia,) invaded Portugal again, and was able 
to get possession of Oporto ; while another army, under general 
Victor, threatened Lisbon. It was at this moment that fresh troops 
arrived from England, under the command of sir Arthur VVellesley, 
who quickly recovered Oporto, and then turning' against Victor, 
once more relieved Portugal from the presence of the French. 1q 
June he entered Spain, and by the 20th of July was in a situation 
to threaten Madrid ; on the 27th and 28th, at Talavera del Reyna, 
he was attacked by the French under Joseph Buonaparte, assisted 
by four marshals ; but was able, in conjunction with the Spaniards, 
after a very hard fought battle, to repel them with great loss. 
Though this victory was not attended with any immediate advan- 
tages,- and would appear to have been rather rashly hazarded, the 
British general, for his great skill and conduct during the action, 
was raised to the peerage by the title of viscount Wellington of 
Talavera. 

15. Though a central junta had been appointed in 1,808, to give 
consistency and strength to the proceedings of the patriots, they 
were still ill-prepared either to contend against the enemy alone, 
or conjointly with the British. In the battle of Talavera, and after- 
wards, their movements had rather embarrassed than assisted the 
operations of the latter. It would have been well ii" the Spaniards, 
from the first, could have been prevailed upon to appoint lord Wel- 
lington generalissimo of all the forces acting against the French. 
The latter, however, were much harassed by a sort of desultory 
war, carried on by guerilla parties, who intercepted their supplies, 
and without attempting any regular engagement, (for which, indeed, 
they were unfit,) were continually attacking them in the way of 
ambuscade and surprise ; for which their superior knowledge of the 
country evidently gave them great advantages. 

16. It is not to be wondered that the extraordinary situation of 
Spain should occasion great embari'assment in the management of 
the war. In the place of the supreme central junta of 1,808, a 
regency had been appointed, and the cortes assembled, but without 
sufficient effect. The Spanish armies acted without system, and the 
nation at large manifested a jealousy of their English allies, which 
prevented such a co-operation as might have brought the whole under 
one command, to the evident advantage of the cause, in which they 
must have heen, though with diflerent degrees of zeal and judgment, 
equally interested. This distrust on the part of the Spaniards ex- 
posed them also, it is to be feared, to treatment far from conciliatory 
on the part of the English. The war which was renewed between 
France and Austria, in 1,809, drew the attention of Napoleon in 
some degree from Spain: but those diiferences being soon adjusted, 
early in the year 1,810, powerful reinforcements were sent from 
France to the Peninsula, to reconquer Portugal, and " drive the Eng- 
lish into the sea." What has been said of Spain is by no means ap- 
plicable to Portugal: in the latter country, not only a better sjrtrit 



358 MODERN HISTORY. 

was manifested, but the army being placed under British command^ 
and regularly organized, by general lord Beresford, was soon render- 
ed capable of afibrding very effectual aid and assistance. 

17. During the whole of the years 1,810 and 1,811, the contend- 
ing armies were occupied in striving to gain advantages over each 
other, which called forth all the skill and judgment appertaining 
to the science of war. The detail, however, of the several actions 
which took place, of the investment and capture of the strong holds 
of the two portions of the Peninsula, do not belong to such a work 
as the present. It was not till the summer of 1,812, and after the 
victory gained by lord Wellington over the French under marshal 
Marmont, in the battle of Salamanca, that the total expulsion of the 
French, and overthrow of the throne of .Joseph, became a matter of 
little doubt. The battle of Salamanca may be said to have opened 
the gates of Madrid once more to the patriots and allied army, and 
restored the Spanish crown to Ferdinand. The battle was fought on 
the 22d of July. On the 30th, lord Wellington entered Valladolid, 
the enemy retiring before him; and on the 12th of August, Madrid 
surrendered to the British arms. Joseph and his suite having pre- 
viously quitted it. Lord Wellington was received in the capital with 
the acclamations justly due to the liberator of Spain ; but had the 
Spaniards themselves used the exertions they might have done, 
(Napoleon being at this time engaged in Russia,) the Peninsula 
might probably have been sooner delivered from the French, after 
the recovery of the capital, than proved to be the case. 

18. The latter made a stand at Burgos, which was invested by 
the English, but after a siege of more than a month, abandoned with 
considerable loss ; the British forces being once more obliged to re- 
tire as far as Ciudad Rodrigo, on the frontiers of Pc^rtugal. The 
Spaniards, howevei', at length appeared to be roused to a proper 
sense of their situation, and wisely contided to lord Wellington the 
termination of this protracted war. h) December, 1,812, he was 
appointed generalissimo, and distinguished by extraordinary powers. 

19. It seemed now to be practicable to end, by a decisive ac- 
tion, the contest for the possession of Spain ; and lord Wellington 
lost no time in seeking the opportunity. He took the field in the 
middle of the month of May, 1,813, and on the 21st of June, brought 
the enemy to action on the plains of Vittoria. Never was a vic- 
tory more decisive than the one obtained at this time by the com- 
bined British, Portuguese, and Spanish armies. Joseph and his 
troops were compelled to quit the tield with such extreme precipi- 
tation, as to leave behind them fifty pieces of artillery, two thousand 
carriages of different descriptions, stores, provisions, and an immense 
booty, consisting chiefly of the plunder of Madrid, fortunately rescued 
upon this occasion from the usurper, who was present, and very 
narrowly escaped. 

20. After the battle of Vittoria, and the fall of the strong towns 
of St. Sebastian and Pampaluna, the British, Portuguese, and Span- 
ish troops crossed the Bidassoa, and entered France. Early in 
March, the city of Bordeaux freely opened her gates to general 
Beresford, in the name of Lewis XVllI., at the same time admitting 
the king''s nephew, the duke of Angouleme. On the 10th of April, 
the British stormed the French entrenchments near Thoulouse. On 
the 12th, general Soult filed out of the town, under the muzzles of 
the British guns. On the 13th, news arrived of the abdication of 
Buonaparte, and the entrance of the allied sovereigns into Paris. 



MODERN HISTORY. 35^ 

It is conjectured that the French commander knew of these things 
before, but in the hope of gaining some advantage over the invadei'S 
of France^ concealed it. 

21. Before the allies reached Paris, Napoleon had released Fer- 
dinand Vll., whose return to Spain was, however, rendered very 
unaccej)table to many who had espoused his cause in his absence, 
particularly the members of the regency and existing cortes, with 
whose proceedings, in regard to the new constitution proposed for 
his acceptance, he expressed himself extremely displeased ; they 
had previously refused to acknowledge a treaty concluded by Ferdi- 
nand with Buonaparte. He threw himself also into the hands of 
those who were friends to the ancient sysi'^m, which, wilh extreme 
bigotry, he endeavoured to re-establish in its worst forms. Fi-om 
that time to the present the nation has been kept in a state of con- 
siderable ferment and confusion. By a revolution in Bhirch, 1,820, 
the cortes were restored, and the fiee constitution of 1,812 pro- 
claimed and sworn to by the king. The inquisition also w.is hnaiiy 
abolished: but the effects of these last movements remain to be 
proved. 

22. The old king, Charles IV., died at Rome, in 1,819. The bat- 
tle of Vittoria, which relieved Spain from tlie presence of the 
French armies, restored Portugal to her formor independence. On 
the 2Uth of March, 1,816, the queen, Maria Isabella, dird ; and vv'as 
.succeeded by the present king, John \I., who had been regent 
since 1 ,799, the seat of government being still at Rio de Janeiro, in 
Brazil. 



SECTION XVIIT. 

FRANCE, FROM THE PEACE OF TILSIT, TO THE ABDICATION 
OF NAPOLEON 1,814. 

1. The treaty of Tilsit left Napoleon at liberty to pursue his career 
of vengeance and usurpation in other countries. He obtained by it 
such an influence over Russia, Austria, and Prussia, as to induce 
them to brook with England, without any other reason; and as soon 
as he had thjis dis;)osed of matters in those quarters, he turned his 
views to the Spanisli peninsula, where a Bourbon dynasty still ex- 
isted. In three months after the signing of the treaty of Tilsit, he 
concluded the famous partition-treaty with Spain, already spoken of, 
in virtue of which, French troops were to be allowed to pass into 
Portugal, for the sacrifice of that ancient kingdom ; and afterwards, 
no doubt, in the views and designs of the French emperor, of Spain 
itself.' 

2. Of his subsequent invasion and occupation of both countries, 
and of the war for several years carried on, before he could be 
compelled to renounce his usurped dominion in Spain, an account 
is given in the preceding section. On the 17th of December, 1,807, 
in the same spirit of resentment agait st Great Britain, which had 
dictated the celebrated decree of Berlin^ declared the British isles 
to be in a sUite of blockade, the French emperor issued another 
decree, at Milan, (in consequence of the British retaliatory orders 
of council, November 21st,) by which every ship which should 
submit to be visited by the English, or consent to any pecuniary 



360 MODERN HISTORY. 

exactions whatsoever, should be Hable to confiscation as a lawful 
prize; but his vengeance fell hardest upon Portugal, whose com- 
mercial and political relations with England so exasperated him, 
that, in an audience given to the foreign ministers at Fontainebleau, 
he openly declared, that if the regent of Portugal did not within 
two months conform to the continental system, and totally rtiounce 
his connexions with England, the house of Braganza should cease to 
reign. Such was the haughty language of this extraordinary man, 
in the face of Europe, afier the convention at Tilsit ! 

3. In a few days after this denunciation of the Portuguese dy- 
nasty, the regent closed his ports against English ships of all descrip- 
tions, but not in time to slop the F'rench armies, who pressed so 
closely upon him, tliat on the 29th of November, (see the preceding 
section,) Vie was obhged to quit his European dominions for Rio Ja- 
neiro, in the Brazils, and on the very next day Lisbon was occupied 
by French troops under general Junot. 

4. The short-lived kingdom of Etruria was brought to an end 
about this time ; and the queen-regent, late duchess of Parma, 
vviin the king, her son, obliged to depart for Spain, her native 
country. 

5. In March, 1 ,808, a decree was passed in France, ordaining the 
renewal of titles of honour, princes, dukes, counts, &c., and cre- 
ating a new order of hereditary nobility, as essential to an heredi- 
tary monarch. About the same time, Joseph Buonaparte was re- 
moved from Naples, and made king of^ Spain ; ind Joachim Murat,^ 
graad duke of Berg, married to the sister of Napoleon, was declared 
king of Naples. 

6. The kingdoms of Naples and Italy being thus entirely in the 
hands of Buonaparte, in order to prevent their communication from 
being interrupted by any hostile power, he seized upon the pope's 
temporalities, for which Pius VI. ventured to excommunicate him. 
He had the audacity to remind the pope, in thus despoiluig him, 
that the kingdom of Christ was not of this world ; though the only 
reason alleged for what he had done, wa-, that Pius had refused to 
declare war against England; a friendly power, and one from which 
the pope declared he had never received the smallest injury. 

7. On the 9lh of April, 1 ,809, war v.'as renewed with Austria ; 
and so rapid was the progress of the French, that after three severe 
actions at Abensberg, Eckmuhl, and Ratisbon, Vienna was compelled 
to capitulate on the 1 2th of May. The Austrian*, afterwards, under 
the archduke Charles, gained some advantages over Buonaparte ; 
but, before the autumn was passed, a peace was concluded, at Vien- 
na, extremely humilitating to Francis II. To France he was obliged 
to cede the lUyrian provinces; to Bavaria, Saltzburg; to Saxony, 
the whole of West Gallicia ; and to Russia, East Gailicia ; he was, 
moreover, compelled to accede to the continental system against 
England, and to acknowledge Joseph Buonaparte as king of Spain. 

8. But as if these concessions were not sufficient to mortify the 
pride of the head of the empire, and representative of the house of 
Hapsburgh and Lorraine, the French emperor, to the surprise of 
Europe, demanded and obtained in marriage the daughter of Fran- 
cis II., tlie archduchess Maria Louisa, having previously been, with 
great form, divorced from the empi'ess Josepldne, with her own 
consent, for the express purpose of forming a connexion of higher 
hopes, and affording a prospect of an heir to his newly acquired im- 
perial dominions. The marriage took place at Paris, April 2, 1,810. 



MODERN HISTORY. 36 1 ' 

9. Intent upon providing for every branch of his family, the 
grand duchy of Tuscany was revived by Napoleon, in 1,809, and 
conferred on his sister Eliza^ princess of Lucca and Piombino. 
The grand, duchy of Berg, vacated by the removal of his brother- 
in-law, Joachim Murat, to the throne of Naples, was given to Louis, 
his nephew, son of the king of Holland ; and on the 17th of "May 
the pope's temporalities were declared to be incorporated with the 
French dominions, and the title of king of Rome appropriated to the 
imperial prince, heir to the French empire. The situation of the 
papal territories, between the kingdoms of Italy and Naples, was 
such as in hostile hands might be made use of to intercept the com- 
munication between the two ; and therefore the pope, who appeared 
friendly to England, was of necessity to be despoiled of his domin- 
ions, but to receive a revenue of two millions of francs. The new 
constitutional government was to be in full activity and force on the 
1st of January, 1,810. On the 14th of January, 1,810, the elector- 
ate of Hanover was annexed to the dominion of the emperor's 
brother, Jerome, king of Westphalia; and on the 2Uth of March, 
1,811, Napoleon was gratified with the birth of a son, who, accord- 
ing to the arrangements already spoken of, was immediately digni- 
fied with the title of king of Rome. 

10. In June, 1,812, Napoleon, oiTended with some parts of the 
conduct of the emperor of Russia, who had begun to appreciate 
more justly tiie character of the artful and ambitious Corsican, 
once more declared war against him, having influence, besides, to 
pi'evail upon Prussia and Austria to join him. His advance towards 
the Russian dominions was most rapid ; but, considering the distance 
to which he was carrying his army, and the inveterate hatred and 
indignation he had excited by his bold threats against his imperial 
adversary, his subjects, and his empire, extremely rash. His power, 
it is true, was immense, 400,000, infantry, 60,000 cavalry, and 1,200 
pieces of artillery; Germans, Polanders, Dutch, Swiss, ItaUans, 
Spaniards, and Portuguese, being numbered amongst his troops ; 
but nothing could exceed the anger and resentment of the Rus- 
sians. 

11. On the 9th of May the French ruler left St. Cloud; on the 
24th of June he crossed (he Niemen, and on the 14th of September 
attained his grand object of entering the capital of the Muscovite 
dominions. But his reception was far from being such as he ex- 
pected, or such as he had met with in other capitals. The city was 
fired by order of the governor, and by the hands of the enraged in- 
habitants; and the French had only ruins to occupy, in a latitude to 
vvliich they were totally unaccustomed, and with ail the horrors of 
a Siberian winter betbre them. 

12. On the lOth of October, after having solicited an armistice, 
afld proposed peace, both of which were peremptorily nfusedj 
Buonaparte and his disappointed army began their dreary ana ■ 
perilous march back to France. Nothing could exceed the diffi- 
culties and distresses to which they were exposed, from the severi- 
ties of the weather and climate, and the attacks of the Russians, 
from Moscow to the capital of Lithuania, where they arrived on 
the 10th of December. On the 6th, the emperor Napoleon totally ■• 
abandoned his harassed army to its fate, having quitted it at Smor- 
gonie in disguise ; destroyed the bridges by which he passed, regard- 
less of those he left behind ; and tiaversing Poland and Germany, 
made tiie best of his way to Paris, where he arrived at midnighU- 

Hh 46 



362 MODERN HISTORY. 

December 18, having lost, or rather sacrificed, upwards of 150,000 
men, including prisoners, 167,500. 

13. It was naturally expected that this total defeat of all his 
projects in regard to Russia, together with the miserable condition of 
his army when it reached the confines of France, would have termi- 
nated his giddy career of pride and ambition ; but in this the world 
was deceived. In the following year, he eagerly resumed hostilities, 
but manifestly to great disadvantage. Tiiough he was readily fur- 
nished with a fresh army, amounting to 350,000 men, he had soon 
opposed to him not only Russia, but Austria, Prussia, and S\veden, 
subsidized by England. Several of the confederates of the Rhine 
ventured to abandon his cause ; and it became very apparent that 
the allied powers were more in earnest and more united now tban 
on any former occasion. Many battles were fought in the course of 
the summer, with doubtful success, till, at last, the great " Battle of 
Nations," as it has fiUy enough been called, took place at Leipzig, 
in which the French stistaineil so signal a defeat, as seemed evidently 
to prognosticate the ruin and discomfiture of the great disturber of 
Europe. This celebrated battle, or succession of engagements, 
took place on the 16th, J 8th, and 19th days of October. Leipzig 
was tnken only two hoars aflor Buonaparte had effected his escape. 
The king of Saxony and all his court were captured by the allies; 
a French garrison of 30,000 mc % besides 22,000 sick and wounded, 
Avith the French magazines, artillery, and stores. The emperor of 
Russia, the king of Frussia, and crown prince of Sweden, each at 
the head of their respective troops, made their entry into the town 
at different points, after the engagement of the 19th, and met in the 
great scjuare, amidst the universal acclamations of the peopie. 
J ust before the battle of Leipzig, the allies derived great advantage 
from the dc lection of the kings of Bavaria and W'irtemberg, and the 
gland duke of Baden, from the cause of France, and the consequent 
junction of 55,000 of the Bavarian troops ; and during the action of 
the 18th, a party of the Saxons, bringing with them 22 guns, desert- 
ed to the crown prince of Sweden, and desired to be led directly 
against the French. So much was the aspect of things changed with 
regard to the destinies of Buonaparte, who, on his return to Paris, 
had but too much reason to declare, (as he did in his speech to the 
senate on the 14th of November,) "All Europe was with us a year 
ago, — all Europe is now against us." 

14. The immediate consequences of the victory at Leipzig were, 
the dissolution of the new-erected kingdom of VVestphaiia, and the 
grand duchies of Berg and Frankfort. Tfie dukes of Brunswick 
and Hesse Cassel recovered their dominions, and the prince of 
Orange was not merely restored to his stadtholderate in Holland, 
but proclaimed sovereign of the United Netherlands. On the 2d of 
December, 1,813, the allies passed the Rhine; the southern frontier 
of the Pyrenees having been invaded by the British and Portuguese 
in October preccdmg. 

15. Though four great armies of the allies were now within the 
territories of France, their work was not accomplished. The 
French generals, and Buonapai-te himself, who, in a very affecting 
manner, quitted Paris on the 5J5th of January, 1,814, interrupted 
the progress of the Russians, Prussians, and Austrians, endeavoured 
to prevent, in every way they could, their advance upon the capital; 
but all their exertions proved vain, though the attainment of that 
great object was deferred for some months. It was not till Ihe 31st 



RIODERN HISTORY. 363 

uay of March,' that their triumph may be said to have been complet- 
ed : on that day the emperor of Russia and the king of Prussia, at 
the head of their respective armies, entered Paris in the most solemn 
and imposing manner. On the 2d of April, Buonaparte was formally 
deposed by the senate, and on the 11 th he was permitted to abdicate, 
upon terms judged by many to be far too favourable. He was al- 
lowed to retire to Elba, (a residence of his own choice,) retaining his 
imperial titles, and having that island and its dependencies assigned to 
him as sovereign, with a revenue of two millions of francs. The duch- 
ies of Parma, Guastidla, and Placentia, were at the same time secured 
to the empress Maria Louisa, and her descendants, and provision 
made for all his other relations. Buonaparte, having previously had 
a guard appointed, set out on the 20th for the seat of his new and 
very reduced dominions, much exposed occasionally on his passage to 
popular resentment 

16. Ou the the entrance of the allies, they were careful in their 
manifestoes to distinguish between the French people, or nation at 
large, and the tyrant whom they had conspired to overthrow ; and 
evinced the strongest disposition to bury in oblivion, with becoming 
magnanimity and forbearance, the numberless insults and injuries 
they had I'eceived at the hands of the French, while under the do- 
minion of their now prostrate foe. They took no steps to force upon 
them the exiled family, but left the settlement of their government 
and constitution entirely to the senate and provisional administration. 
The Bourbons had been proclaimed in the south, and the count 
d'Artois appeared at Paris on the 13th of April ; but the recal of 
the king was the work of the French themselves, as we shall have 
occasion to observe in a subsequent section. 



SECTION XIX. 

POLAND, FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE EIGH- 
TEENTH CENTURY TO THE TREATY OF VIENNA, 1,815. 

L No country in Europe has suffered more from a faulty constitu- 
tion, than the kingdom of Poland. No country has afforded more 
convincing proofs of the mischiefs appertaining to an elective mon- 
archy, the constant source not only of internal commotions, cabal, 
and intrigue, but the occasion generally, upon every vacancy, of 
foreign interference. At no era did Poland suffer more, perhaps, 
from this combination of evils, than towards the commencement 
of the eighteenth century ; nor has she ever since been able to re- 
cover her independence. The arbitrary, though not unprovoked, 
proceedings of Charles XII. of Sweden, in 1,704, when he deposed 
Augustus, and insisted upon placing Stanislaus on the throne, in despite 
of Austria and Russia, plainly showed how little power a divided 
country possesses against the encroachments of an ambitious neigh- 
bour, and how naturally the interference of one such neighbour 
exposes the invaded country to similar measures on the part of 
others ; for Augustus himself had been previously forced upon the 
Poles by Russia. From the above period to the present day Poland 
has been exposed to a continual recurrence of such events ; and to 
promote the views of a combination of foreign potentates, kept in a 
state of internal disunion and distraction, constantly favourable to 
their ambitious designs. 



364 MODERN HISTORY. 

2. Augustus, elector of Saxony, who was deposed in 1,704, and 
compelled formally to abdicate the throne by the treaty of Alt- 
Kanstadt, in 1,706, was restored by the assistance of Russia, after 
the battle of I'ultawa in 1 ,709, and reigned for the space of twenty- 
four years, dying in 1,733. (Sect. I.) His reign was far from being 
an happy one : he offended the Poles by the introduction of Saxon 
troops, and by residing too much away from them in his electoral 
dominions : he Uved in the midst of factions and conspiracies, being 
continually at war with the dissidents or anti-catholics., while he totally 
failed in his endeavours to render himself absolute, or the crown he- 
reditary in his family. 

3. The war which arose upon the death of Augustus, has been 
already noticed. Had the Poles been wise enough to remedy that 
great defect in their constitution, which rendered the crown elec- 
tive, they could not have done better, perhaps, than to have made 
it hereditary in the person and family of Stanislaus Lescinsky, the 
principal competitor of the house ot Saxony, he being a Pole by 
birth, and very amiable in his private character : but they were no 
longer their own m;isters; and they were divided amongst the nv 
selves to such a degree as to render the interposition of some foreign 
power almost necessary to determine their choice. Upon this oc- 
casion the emperor of Germany, whose niece the young elector of 
Saxony had married, assisted by the Russians, overcame the French 
influence which had been exerted in favour of Stanislaus, and, by 
eflectuall}' removing the latter, procured the election to fall on the 
SOB of the late king, Augustus 111. 

4. This king of Poland, on the death of the emperor Charles VI., 
1,740, laid claim to the whole Austrian succession ; and not altogether 
without reason, had not the Pragmatic Sanction stood in his way, 
his wife being the eldest daughter of the emperor Joseph, elder 
brother of Charles VI. ; the object of the Pragmatic Sanction being 
to secure the inheritance to the females, in default of male issue; 
and on the demise of Charles VI., his daughter becoming his immedi- 
ate heir and representative, it certainly appeared hard that the 
dlinghter of the elder brother, who had been emperor, should be so 
entirely excluded. The hope of succeeding to some part, at least, 
of the late emperor's hereditary dominions, induced the king of Po- 
land to enter into a confederacy with Bavaria, Prussia, and France, 
against the house of Austria ; but he derived no advantage from the 
afiiance : he afterwards changed sides, and at the commencement of 
the seven years' war, as has been before shown, (Sect. VI.) suffered 
most severely for having espoused the case of the empress queen^ 
and entertained views against Prussia, which the wary sovereign of 
the latter country found means to detect, and cruelly to revenge. 

5. It was not likely that a kirig who owed his election so entirely 
to the interference of foreign powers, should acquire any thing 
like independence, or authority at home or abroad. During the 
reign of Augustus HI. great feuds and animosities prevailed among 
the Magnats, while the king himself was entirely subject to the 
influence of Russia ; a circumstance so resented by his subjects as 
to induce them to avail themselves of the privilege of the Liberum 
l^eto, to dissolve all the diets he convoked, and thus leave the king- 
dom almost without any government. Augustus III. died in the year 
1,763, at a period when tne Russian sceptre had passed into hands 
well titled to promote, in every way possible, (just or unjust.) its 
aggrandizement and splendour. Catherine II. is supposed to nave 



MODERN HISTORY. 365 

had her eyes upon Poland before the demise of Augustus, and to 
have been prepared not only to set aside the son of the latter, but to 
advance to the vacant throne some creature of her own ; she paid no 
attention therefore to the solicitations of the house of Saxony, and was 
very shortly relieved, indeed, from all competition in that quarter, 
by the early death of the new elector, hi coniunction with Prussia 
she succeeded, but not without a spirited opposition on the part of a 
few Polish patriots, in bestowing the crown of Poland on count Po- 
niatowski, one of her lavourites, and a Pole by birth ; a man of talent, 
and amiable in his disposition, but likely to continue, as well as his 
predecessor, entirely under her control. 

6. Nothing could be a greater mockery than the care which (he 
czarina and the king of Prussia pretended to take of the liberties of 
Poland, at the very moment that they were forcing upon the nation 
a king of their own choice and nomination. So far fiom trying 
to amend their faulty constitution, .and eradicate the seeds of future 
animosities, (hey particularly entered into an agreement to prevent 
the king rendering the crown hereditary in his family, or becoming 
absolute ; that is, in fact, imlepcndoiti or powerful; for this was their 

.'great object. And when it v\as to be submittecl to tb.e diet to ap- 
prove their nominee, and declare count Poniatowski';k'ng, a Rus- 
sian army was sent to Warsaw, to support the./'/cc(/o//i of the eltclion. 
The cJioice of the diet of course was soon decided to be in Ihvour of 

,the Russian favourite, who became king accordingly, September 7, 
l,764,^under the name an<l title of Slnnislaus Augustus. 

"" 7. From this period, the throe neighbouring powers, Russia, 
Prussia, aiul Austria, the two ibrmcr, however, mi)st particularly, 
may be said to have been interested in the internal dissensions of 
that unhappy kingdom, which aHonlcd them plausible grounds of 
interference, and whicli Xhey could tluMcfore have no sincere incli- 

. nation to allay or adjust till they had efleclually gained their own ends : 
the object ot Russia probably was to maintain her own power niul 
ascendancy over the whole country ; but J^russia meditated a parti- 
tion, which might put her into possession of Polish or V\ estern Prus- 
sia, a district of nujch importance in every point of view. 

8. Whatever n)ay have been originally the distinct views of the 
several parties, it is very certain that they derived peculiar advan- 
tages from the extremely unsettled state of the country, which was 
at this time torn to pieces by the contests and disputes between the 

■catholics and dissulcnts^ or dhtientevs from the estal)lished religion? 
the latter, who since the middle of the sixteenth century had ac- 
quired many privileges, wore supported by several ditVerent loreign 
powers; those of the Greek church by Russia, and the proteslants 
of all persuasions by Prussia, Denmark, and Great Britain, all of 
whom were called upon to interpose as guarantees of the famous 
treaty of Oliva, 1,6G0. The diet, instigated by the court of Komq 
and heads of the church, judged it right to uphold the established 
faith, and Stanislaus, though his principles were more tolerant and 
liberal, appeared to take the same side, being jealous also of the too 
gre.at power of Russia, of which he could not fail to be continually 
reminded, not only by the open favour shown to the dismlents by 
Catherine, but by the insolent superiority assumed by her general, 
commanding in Poland, prince Repnin, and the extremely arbitrary 
and sanguinary manner in wliich the empress sought to maintain her 
preponderance. 

9. In tlie mean while confederacies were forming in all parts of 

Hh2 



366 MODERN HISTORY. 

the kingdom to restore, if possil^le, tlie independence of their 
country, (sucli at least was the object of the catholic"*,) or to pro- 
cure ior the protestants all the rights and privileges to which they 
laid claim, and of some of which they had been unjustly deprived. 
Tiie latter, under prince Kadzivil, supported by Russian troops, 
compelled the diet of Warsaw, in the year 1,707, to accede to 
their demands ; this hastened the grand confederacy of the catho- 
lics at Bar, in Podolia, in 1,768, whose object was to throw off the 
Russian yoke, with the aid of Turkey, who had been induced by 
]P ranee to declare war against the Russians in that very year, upon 
the occasion of the latter having passed their frontier in pursuing 
a Polish party, and committed considerable depredations. 

10. Thouglj the confederate catholics had clearly the good of 
their country in view, yet such was the influence of Russia, that 
tlie king and senate were compelled by Catherine to declare war 
against the Porte, and so far to counteract, as much as possible, 
the efforts that were making to accomplish their own independence. 
In Austria, indeed, during this stage of the business, the conlede- 
rates at Bar had a friend in ]Mai-ia Theresa, who espoused the 
claims of the Saxon family, and who sent them botli arms and 
money, lo enable them to check, if possible, the domineering pro- 
ceedings of the czarina, of which indeed she had good cause to be 
jealous. But the time was approaching in which, notwilhsl.uiding 
the most striking and formal declarations to the contrary, Pohuid 
Avas to become a prey to her three more powerful neighbours, and 
Av'hen all other feelings were to give way to that of duly apportion- 
ing and dividing the spoils of that unhappy country. 

11. It seems now to be pretty generally agreed, (hat the plan 
of dismembering this unfortunate kingdom originated with the king 
of Prussia, or his brother, prince Henry ; -nnd that it was owing to 
particular circumstances that they were able to bring the two other 
parties so readily to acquiesce in their measures of partition. Had 
i'lederick himself been more rapacious, it would probably not have, 
been so easily accomplished, but, in order to gain what he most 
roveled, for his own snare, he appeared willing to allow the other 
two partitioning powers to acquire rather more than fell to his lot, 
both in extent of territory and amount of population. In admitting 
Austria to any share at all, he made no scruple to assert that liis 
principal motive was, that she should bear her part in the blame 
th;it nnist attach to so arbitrary and rapacious an act. 

li. Though the Polish king and nation were compelled to ac- 
quiesce in these proceedings of the three power=, thev did not do 
so without remou'^trating in terms the most striking and dignified; 
accompanying their remonstrances and manifestoes with an open 
appejil lo the several states which had guarantied the integrity of 
i'oland ; hut all in vain. They obtained no assistance from foreign 
states, no al)atement of their demands on the part of the par- 
lilioning powers, and were at length obliged, by a solemn diet, to ^ 
sanction this gross dismemberment of their country. In two seve-* 
ral discussions of the Ctise, however, in the senate, and assebibly 
of Nuncios, the minority on the division was most numerous and 
i-espectable. ,ln the' former, the question was carried by a major- 
ity of «/.r only, in the latter by one. The motive alleged by the 
partitioning powers, for this extraordinary proceeding was, that they 
ivere anxious to amend the constitution, to preserve the liberties 
! Poland, and to appease the disorders which had for so long a 



MODERN HISTORY. 367 

space of time disturbed the country, but they i'ulfilled none of these 
pretended purposes. They did nothing to amend the constitution, 
but imposed a new one upon them, fraught with those very 
imperfections, of which they might for ever continue to take ad- 
vantage. They perpetuated the elective monarchy, abridged 
more than ever the authority of the king, and continued the libe- 
riua veto, a sort of tribunitial privilege, exceedingly inimical to 
tlie peace of the country. So far from upholding, they trampled 
upon their liberties in every way they could, and promoted the dis- 
orders they pretended to remove, by encouraging, rather than 
checking, the licentious conduct of their soldiery. In fact, a 
greater act of atrocity, or a more barefaced mockery of national 
ieelings, never perhaps took place, or was even attempted, than in 
the dismemberment of the kingdom of Poland. Austria and Prus- 
sia did, indeed, make an attem.pt to vindicate their claims to the 
countries they took possession of; but Russia scarcely judged it 
necessary to make any declaration to that effect. The archives of 
Prussia and Hungary were ransacked, and titles revived and in- 
sisted upon, which, tQ say the least, had been in abeyance lor many 
centuries. How far this measure may justly be said to have allecUMl 
the balance of power in Kurope, is a distinct case. For a long series 
of years, if not of ages, Poland had been so ill governed, or so weak, 
a.s to have had little inlluence on that balance, though her (-iiualiou 
seemed to point her out, and still appears to do so, as capable ol ma- 
terially inllucncing or counteracting the operationsof her man} pow- 
erful and ambitious neighbours, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Turkey. 
The worst consequence, however, arising from the conft d< racy 
against Poland, seems to have been the countenance thereby given 
to the partitioning system in general. 

13. It was in the yeai' t,77I3 that the division was finally agreed 
to, and settled, and even^anctioned by the Polish diet. Of some- 
what more than ikirtccn ihoumnd square German leagues of terri- 
tory, the partitioning powers took a good third, taking at the same 
time no measures to lessen the evils arising from the defective con- 
stitution of Poland, in the portion allotted to the natives. It must 
be acknowledged, that they bestowed great pains on the improve- 
ment of their respective shares; but no benefits of this nature, ccn- 
lerred on particular parts of the country, could compensate for tlie 
unfeeling depredations committed upon the whole. 

14. The lollowing has been given as a fair representation of the 
parts allotted to the several powers, by the delegates appointed to 
adjust the respective claims. Other accounts, indeed, are extant, 
which it wouKl be dithcult to attempt to nconcile with the one 
we are about to give ; a very exact statement, however, may not 
be necessary. 'Ihe Russian allotment consisted of Polish Li\ onia, 
parts of the palatinates of VVitepsk, Polotsk, and Minsk, and the 
whole palatinate of INlicislaw, containing a population of 1.500,000 
souls. The king of Prussia obtained the district called Royal, oi 
Western Prussia, excepting the towns of Dantzic and Thorn, with 
a population oj" 860,0(X) souls. Austria gained a large territory in 
the south of Poland, comprising Red Russia, Callicia. and parts of 
the palalinatfs of Cracow, Sandomir, Lublin, Bezk, Volhynia, and 
Podolia, containing a population of 2,500,000 souls, and the valuable 
salt-woks of Vielitzka, which produced an annual revenue of JC90,000. 
This district was annexed to ilie Austrian territories, under the an- 
cient appeliatiou of the kingdoms ot Gallicia and Lodomeria. Sucb 



368 MODERN HISTORY. 

were the results of what is now distinguished by the name of the 
FIRST partition of Poland. 

15. The little assistance Poland received to ward off the disgrace 
and misery of this first partition, the extraordinary apathy with 
which it seemed to be beheld by the other powers of Europe, lefl 
little hopes of her regeneration, or escape from the toils into which 
she had fallen ; nor indeed has she ever escaped from them, or 
recovered the smallest degree of independence. At'ter the first 
partition, the object she had most to dread w;us some accidental 
disunion of the partitioning powers, who would be sure to wreak 
their vengeance upon her; and an event of this very nature seems 
to have been the cause of what has been called the second parti- 
tion, in 1,793. Russia and Au-^tria, in the years 1,787 and 1,788, by 
too close an alliance, having given umbrage to the king of Prussia, 
he insisted that the constitution formed fur Poland, in 1,773, was 
void, and offered to assist the Poles in framing a new one, which 
was completed under his auspices, May 3, 1,791. Had this consii- 
tution been able to keep its ground, Poland, so much of it at lesist 
as remained to the natives, might have recovered some degree of 
cretiil and fVoedom ; it was in a great measure the work of real 

})atnots, enlightened and moik-rate reformers ; it abolishod the 
ibennn veto, and the elective monarchy, exc(^pt in the case of the 
extinction of some hereditary d5 nastj ; it rendered the person of 
the king inviolable, but gave him responsible minisfei-s ; it provid- 
ed a representative senate, not much dilVoring from the English 
house of commons. Lnhappily, this good work found enemies 
amongst the ancient nobles, wlio did not like to give up their pre- 
tensions to royalty, and who had recourse to the old and ruinou.s 
expedient of inviting foreign help, always at hand to avail itself 
of the internal commotions of that devoted country. Russia was 
called in, by the confederates of Targoviiz, and a renewal of losses 
and cal-r-mities ensued of coiu-se. The king of Prussia, so far fVom 
supporting the new constitution, the diet, or the king, as he seem- 
ed absolutely bound to do, by his own acts, eagerly seized upon the 
towns of Dantzic and Thorn, which had been specially excepted 
hi the last partition, joined the czarina, in her efforts again.>-t the 
patriots,, under the brave Kosciusko, and finally succeeded in pre- 
vailing over a country, which, iVom the enthusiasm and spirit dis- 
played on this occasion in her defence, deserved a better fate. By 
the second partition, in 1,793, Russia is said to have acquired 4,000 
German square miles of territory, in Volhynia, Lithuania, Podolia. 
and the I'kraine ; and Prussia, besides the towns of Dantzic and 
Thorn, 1,000 square miles in south Prussia, with all the liansealic 
towns. A </<m/ and last partition soon followed, in the year l,795,j 
between Russia, Prussia, and .\ustria, which may be said to nare 
put an end to the kingdojn and re pulilic of Poland ; Stanislaus, its 
unhappy monarch, being removed to Russia, where he soon alter 
died, February 12, 1,798. In tiiis last partition, Cracow was given 
to Austria, and Warsaw to Prussia. From the resistance of the 
natives, who gained greater advantages in many engagements than 
could have been expected from the nature of their force, the slaugh- 
ter accompanving these latter revolutions was dreadl'ul, and on the 
part of the Ru<;sians attended with circumstances of cruelty too 
much resembling what had taken place in 1,772. 

16. It would be dilhcult to describe the state of Poland, from 
the period of tlie last jnirliiion, in 1,796, to the treaty of Vienna, in 



MODERN HISTORY. 369 

1,815. The injuries the natives had experienced at the hands of 
the three partitioning powere very naturally disposed them to ac- 
cept any offers from the enemies of their oppressors; and, as Buo- 
naparte had frequent opporttmities of making such offers, it is not 
to be wondered tnat he should have obtained their assistance, and 
subjected them, more or less, to his government and control ; but 
as tie was only at times in opposition to, and as often alUed with 
one or other of the three powers, Russia, Austria, or Prussia, he 
was never able to propose their entire emancipation, even if he had 
desired it. Thus continually deceived and mortified, they derived 
no advantage from tlie aid they gave to France, if we except that ten- 
dency towards the recovery of a separate existence, (for it can 
scarcely be called more,) the creation of the grand duchy of War- 
saw, in 1,807, which, by the treaty of Tilsit, and with the consent 
of Buonaparte, was consigned to the king of Saxony ; the emperor 
of Russia at the same time acquiring much of Poland iVom Prussia. 
la 1,812, the kingdom was declared by the diet of Wai^aw to be re- 
established; and by the treaty of Vienna, in 1,815, being formally 
delivered up by the king of Saxony, it became annexed to Russia, 
and was declared to be, "irrevocably attached to it by its constitution, 
to be possessed by his majesty the emperor of all the Russias, bis 
heirs and successors in perpetuity." The part assigned to Prussia 
took the name of the grand duchy of Posen. The salt-mines of 
V'ielitzka were confirmed to the emperor of Austria, and such dis- 
tricts as had been acquired by the treaty of Vienna, in 1,809. The 
towi» of Cracow was declared to be lor ever a free, independent, and 
strictly neutral city, under the protection of Austria, RiiK>;ia, and 
Prussia. The navigation of the rivers and canals, in all parts of an- 
cient Poland, (as it existed in the year 1,772,) was by particular 
treaties, between Russia, Austria, and Prussia, declared to I'e free, 
so as not to be interdicted to any inhabitant of the Polish proviocee, 
belonging to either of the three powers. 



SECTION XX. 

GREAT BRITAIN, FROM THE PEACE OF AMIENS, 1,802, TO 
THE DEATH OF GEORGE III., 1,820. 

1. Bf.fore one year had pas'^ed from the conclusion of the peace 
of .\miens, circumstances took place wbirh too plainly indicated a 
strong probability of the renewal of hostilities, and so early as the 
month of May, 18t»3, letters ot m-irque and reprisal were again is- 
sued against the French, by the British goveirinifnt, apparently 
with the full consent of the people at large, notwithstanding the 
1 entlmsiastic joy uhich had been expressed on the termination of 
1- the war in tbeyear preceding. It was upon this occasion that the 
i first consid had recom-se to a measure, singular in its nature, and 
which exposed many persons and fimilies to great inconvenience. 
He forcibly detained all the English who happened to bf in France, 
not only for purposes of business, hut of pleasure or curiosity.; nor, 
with very few exceptions, were any of them able to return to their 
native country, for the long space of ten or eleven years. Prepa- 
rations also were made lor the invasion of England, which only ex- 
cited a stronger disposition, on the part of the latter country, to pre- 



S70 MODERN HISTORY. 

pare against such attempts, in a way well calculated to destroy at 
once all the enemy's hopes and prospects of success; in Ireland, 
indeed, a new conspiracy was set on foot, which was supposed to 
rest on some promised support from France ; but this was denied by 
the conspirators theiriselves, and the disturbance soon quelled, with- 
out spreading, in fact, beyond the capital. 

2. Though the king of Great Britain had declared, that, with 
regard to his electoral states, he should remain neuter, Buonaparte 
did not neglect such an opportunity of wounding his feeling-^, by 
the speedy occupation of Hanover, under circumstances peculiarly 
aggravating to the people. Early in the month of June, 1,803, the 
Irr.moverian troops were made to lay down their arms, and engage 
not to serve against the French without a previous exchange. 

3. Holland was still too much under subjection to France, to be 
permitted to remain at peace ; letters of marque were, therefore, 
also issued against the Batavian republic, on its refusal to agree to a 
pf^rfect neutrality. 

4. In 1,804, a change of ministry in England brought Mr. Pitt 
again into power, at a moment when the affairs of the continent, 
ai)d the increased power of the tirst consul, who, in the course of 
the same month, assumed the imperial dignity, demanded all his 
attention. Before the conclusion of the year, the aid which Spain 
was compelled to render to the French, together with certain ap- 
pearances of hostile preparations in her ports, exposed her to an 
attack on the part of Great Britain, which soon drew from her a 
declaration of war, very fotal to her interests, though scarcely to 
be avoided, considering the circumstances in which she had been 
placed by the extraordinary proceedings and demands of the Britisli 
government, which was supposed to have violated the strict rules 
of justice, if not of international law, by arbitrarily and prematurely 
seizing her treasure-ships, on their pass.!ge to her ports, in an action 

{)erfectly unforeseen and unexpected, and in which many lives were 
ost. 

5. But if the character of the British nation or government suf- 
fered in any respect from errors or mistakes in the commencement 
of the war, its naval power and credit were highly advanced be- 
fore a year had passed, by the splendid victory obtained over the 
Spanish and French Hcets com^'ined, off cape Trafalgar, in Octo- 
ber, 1,805; a victory not achieved, however, without a correspon- 
dent loss, as has been before stated, in the death of the very cele- 
brated lord Nelson, commander of the British squadron, who fell 
early in the action, and whose body, being afterwards brought to 
England, was buried with very unusual honours in the centre of 
St. Paul's cathedral. 

6. In 1,806 died Mr. Pitt; a minister whose extraordinary talents 
and integrity of life attached to him many friends and adherents, 
by whom he was ably supported through a very arduous contest; 
a contest which, though some thought it might have been avoided, , 
others as confidently regarded as entirely just and necessary, and 
a timely security against the propagation of revolutionary princi- 

Kles, more threatening and dangerous than any aggressions purely 
ostile. It is always easy to say, such and such events would not 
have happened, had a different course from the one actually adopted 
been pursued; but this is at best mere matter of surmise. It is im- | 
possible now to speak decisively of what might or might not have t 
heen the consequences of a longer forbearance from war ; it is ex- | 



MODERN HISTORY. 371. 

tremely certain that many untoward circumstances prevented the 
accomplishment of all that Mr. Pitt had in view, and that the power 
of the French emperor, instead of being checked, was advancing 
with rapid strides to a pitch of uncontrollable and extended domin- 
ion, when the former was seizeil with that illness which terminated 
his life, in the forty-seventh year of his age. On his death, a new 
administration was termed, including his great parliamentary oppo- 
nent, Mr. Fox, who survived him for the short space of only seven 
months. It is highly creditable to the character of the British nation 
to record, that these two eminent statesmen, who had been for a long 
time so much opposed to each other, hut whose abilities and sinceri- 
ty in an opposite line of politics appear to have been duly acknowl- 
edged and appreciated by all parties at the period of their deaths, 
were buried at the public expense, in Westminister Abbey, so near 
to each other, that one stone might have covered the remains of 
both. 

7. During the short time that Mr. Fox was a member of adminis- 
tration, fresh attempts were made to terminate the war, by negotia- 
tion, but in vain. Though the French emperor would have agreed 
to many cessions of importance, both to Great Britain and her 
ally, the emperor of Russia, it was found impossible to detach from 
his influence and usurped authority some of the most important 
parts of Europe, particularly Holland, Switzerland, Italy, and Ger- 
many. 

8 The system so generally adopted by the tyrant of France, of 
converting to his own use the resources of all other counlries, 
which could in any manner be rendered subservient to his purpose, 
led the administration which succeeded that in which Mr. Fox had 
a share, to set on foot an expedition which has been judged by 
many incapable ot justitication on any principles of pohticHl expe- 
diency, and which was unfortunately attended nith more fatal con- 
sequences than were at first perhaps contemplated. Upon what in- 
formation the ministry proceeded did not fully appear at the time, 
but it was alleged that they had reason to know that the French ruler 
designed to occupy Holstein, and convert to the purposes of an in- 
vasion of the British dominions the Danish marine. 

9. It was determined, in c;der to prevent such an accession to the 
naval power of France, to cl.U'in posst-ssion of (he fleet on which the 
enemy had thus fixed his view, and though it might perhaps have 
been both hoped and expected by the British government, that the 
X)anes would be brought peaceably to surrender into their hands 
for a time a fleet thus devoted to the ruin of a friendly power, yet 
the result turned out to be far otherwise. The Danes resisted the 
demand, and though quite unable eifectually to defend against the 
forces opposed to them either their fleet or th. ir capital, did not 
capitulate till about two thousand persons had lost their lives, and 
many houses been burnt in a manner that threatened the entire de- 
struction of the city. The end, it is true, was accomplished, of get- 
ting into the power of the English all the Danish snips of war, (eigh- 
teen sliips of the line and fifteen frigates,^ and naval stores ; but it is 
to be feared that it will be long before tlie irritation caused by this 
sudden and unexpected attack on a bi'ave people, not at war with 
England, will be allayed or forgotten. 

10. In vindication of the suspicions of the British ministry, it was 
asserted th it the Danish marine and arsenals were found in a state 
wliich lell no doubt of the intrigues and agency of the Erench, ac- 



372 MODERN HISTORY. 

cording to the judgment of the officers and seamen employed in the 
expedition. The general designs of France seem, indeed, to have 
been decisively manilested, in the measures they now openly pur- 
sued, about the same lime, of appropinating to themselves the fleet 
of Portugal, and for similar purposes, but which, fortunately without 
so melancholy a catastrophe, was rescued trom the grasp of the 
French ruler, by its liuiely removal, under the protection of a British 
armament, to the ports of Brazil. The difference between the two 
cases seemed to be this; that in getting possession of the latter fleet 
we were actually assisting an ally ; in the former, we were com- 
pelling a neutral to adopt a measure judged to be unnecessary on her 
part, and on suspicions, tlie grounds ol which she disavowed ; but the 
state of Europe, al that period, appears to have been such, especially 
with regard to the minor slates, as to juslity precautions' against 
French power and Frencii intrigue, seldom, if ever, resorted to in 
other instances: it may also be added, that Portugal unreservedly 
communicated to Erigland the avowed designs of France ; Denmark, 
to say the least, acted with a reserve far from friendly, and resisted 
aU negotiation; the consequences to the latter, however, were cer- 
tainly deploraide. 

11. It was in the year 1,807, that the royal flimily of France, 
whose situation en the continent became every da\ more alarming} 
and insecure, took refuge in England ; they fixed their residence at 
Hartwell, in Buckinghamshire, his majesty staling himself the count 
de Lisle, and modestly declining all lionours and attentions, beyond 
such as might he due to a private nobleman. 

12. The vindictive measures adopted by the French government 
to ruin the trade and commerce of Great Britain, naturally drew 
from the latter retaliatory expedients, which %vere n.ore or less ap- 
proved, as affecting neutral and friendly powers, but which could 
scarcely have been avoided, without surrendering her maritime 
rights, and submit'iiig to a pretence of blockade on the part of a 

Sower, whose ships had been ikiily driven from the sea by- the 
ritish fleets. Orders in council were issued in the months ol" Janua- 
ry and November, 1,807, not only prohibiting all trade between the 
ports of France and its aliies, but ultimately compelling all neutrals, 
trading to France, to stop at a British port, and pay a duty in propor- 
tion to the value of the cargo. These embarrassments to trade in 
general could not fail to excite' great uneasiness in all parts of the 
world ; but the commencement ol' them is justly to be imputed to the 
extraordinary deci-ee, issued by the French ruler at Berlin, (the basis 
of the " continental system,'") November, 1,806, an account of which 
is given in Sect. X\ 1. : unfortunately the impossibihty of satisfactorily 
exempting other states from the effect of these probiiilory and 
regulating decrees, on the part of the two rival countries, involved 
England in a very unpleasant dispute with the United Stales of 
America. 

13. Of the part England took in the affairs of Spain and Portugal, 
from 1,808 to 1.814, an account is to be found elsewhere. (See Sect. 
XVII.) It may be sufticient to say, that, during the whole contjsst, 
the emancipation of those two ancient kingdoms from the power of 
the French seemed to be contemplated by the whole mass of B/'itish 
subjects as their own cause. The people of Great Britain aud Ire- 
land, on the flrst application for assistance from Spain, appeared 
ready to rise in a bodv. They hailed the dawn of liberty oi> liie 
continent with the most enthusiastic feelings. The deputies, from the 



MODERN HISTORY. 373 

supreme junta of Seville, did not arrive in England, on their mission 
to the British government, till the 24th of July, 1,808 ; but long be- 
fore that, other deputies from the principality of Asturias had been 
received in London, with the most cordial tokens of esteem and 
friendship. They were splendidly entertained by the City of Lon- 
don, the IBank, and other pul)lic bodies, as well as by individual? of 
the lii^bcst distinction. Subscriptions were opened in London, Liver- 
pool, Bristol, Glasgow, ILdinburgh, Dublin, Cork, Watcrford, and 
many other places, for supporting the cj\usc of Spain ; and several 
military corps, militia, and vclunteers, offered their services. Govern- 
ment supplied them immediately with three hundred thousand pounds 
in dollars, five thousand muskets, thirty thousand pikes, and an im- 
monse quantity of powder and balls, with premises of more effectual 
aid, which, were ultimately amply lullilled. The spirit thus display- 
ed by the British public, on the first certain intelligence received of 
(he ntili-gallican insurrection in Spain, may be said to have continued 
unabated till, through the matchlrss skill and valour of the confede- 
rate armies under the duke of Wellington, the French were finally 
f!rivcn from the peninsula in 1,814, as related in our account of 
bpain. 

1 1. His majesty George III., having, in the month of October, 
1XU9, entered upon the 50th year of his reign, the event was cole- 
luated throughout the nation in a \ery striking manner, by services 
of thaid\-giviug in all the churches and chapels, with suitable (!!•=- 
courses, illuminations, feasts, and other testimonies of joy, but^ parti- 
culaily liy liberal benefactions to the poor. In the month olNovem- 
f ler in the following year, his majesty, much troubled and affiiclod by 
the l'>t)g illness ancf death of his daughter the princess Amelia, had 
jin alarming return ot his termor complaint, which terminated in a 
second suspension of his regal functions, and from which he never so 
f ufiicientiy recovered as to be able to transact any business of state. 
' On the L\)lh of December^ his royal highness the prince of \\ airs 
''-W'as appointed regent, subject for a period to restrictions similar to 
those which had been proposed in 1,788-9. This plan Mas violently 
joppr)sed. as unconstitutional and impolitic, but finally carried in Feb- 
ruaiy, 1,811. The bill was completed and presented to his royal 
l)igliiies.s, who did not hesitate to accept the trust, though not without 
remonstrating against the limitations and restrictions imposed on him. 
Early in 1,812, however, these restrictions were to cease. Great 
changes in administration had been contemplated, and many negotia- 
tions were carried on to this efiect, but without accomplishing that 
union and coalition of parlies, which the regent himselt seemed to 
desire. Not being disposed to withhold his conjidcnce therefore from 
those «*ho had so long served his royal lather, mofit of them, on the 
termination of the restrictions, were continued in their places. A 
I most melancholy catastrophe, which occurred in the month of May, 
1,812, deprived the nation ol the services ol\Mr. Bercival, who was 
assassinated in the lobby of the house of commons, by a person of 
the name of Bellingham. in revenge, as he himself slated, of a pri- 
vate injury ; a denial of justice, as he called it, on the part of govern- 
ment. It seemed to be accidental that the premier happened to be 
the individual t'lrst presented to his notice on that fatal day. 

[The paragraphs 15 and 16 of Dr. Narcs' work, giving a very 

short account of the differences between the English and American 

governments in 1,812, 13, 11, and 15, are omitted. For a more par- 

ticukir, and we trust more impartial account of the war between 

li 



374 MODERN HISTORY. 

Great Britain and the United States, the reader is referred to Section 
VI. of Part Fourth, near the close of this volume.] 

17. The year 1,814, will ever be memorable in the English histo- 
ry, for the very extraordinary influence of foreigners of the highest 
distinction, from the opposite shore, on the downfal of Buonaparte, 
and the conclusion of a war, which had agitated the whole of Eu- 
rope. The list of visitors invited to the grand civic feast given by 
the corporation of London, and all of whom were present, but a 
very few, whom illness kept away, may convey some idea of the 
splendid scenes that took place in ditferent parts of the kingdont 
in honour of these illustrious guests. It was on the lOtii of June, 
that the dinner was given to the following very exalted person- 
ages : 

The Prince Rfxjent ; the E>n'EROR of Russia ; his sister, the Grand 
Duchess of Oldenburgh, (afterwai'ds Queen of VV^nvrEMBURa ;) the 
King of Prussu ; the Royal Dukes of England : the Prince Royal of 
Prussia ; Prince William of Prussia, son of the king ; Prince Freder- 
ick^ nephew of the king ; Prince Hcnnj^ brother of the king; Prince 
William, brother of the king; Prince Aiigitstus, the king s cousin ; 
the Prince of Orange ; the Phince Royal of vVirtemburg ; the Princj: 
Royal of Bavaria ; the Prince of Oldenburg ; the Prince of Cobourg ; 
Prince Charles of Mecklenburgh; Dn<E of Saxe Weimar; Prince 
Gagarina ; Prince Czeretorinke ; Prince Radzivil ; Marshal Prince 
Blucher ; Prince Hardenburg ; Prince Metternich ; Prince Lichten- 
stein ; Prince and Princess \olkouske ; his highness the Duke of 
Orleans. 

These illustrious foreigners were entertained, at great cost and ex- 
pense, during their stay, both by the court and public bodies: the 
prince regent accompanied them on a visit to the university of Ox- 
lord ; and to PortsmouUi, where they had an opportunity ol witness- 
ing a naval review. 

18. In May, 1,810, the heiress to the British crown, princess Char- 
lotte, only child of the regent, was married to his serene highness 
Leopold George Frederic, prince of Cobourg. This marriage was 
contemplated by the nation as an object of The highest hopes; and 
for several months the amiable and exemplary conduct of her royal 
highness cheered the people with the brightest prospects of future 
good ; but a \erj sudden and unexpected disa})pointnient took place 
in the month of November, 1817; the princess was delivered of a 
still-born male infant, and survived her delivery only a few houi'S. 
Nothing could exceed the concern manifested by the public on thi3 
melancholy and distressing occasion. 

In the month of November, in the following year, her majesty 
queen Charlotte died at Kew, after a long and painful illness ; and on 
the 20th of January, 1820, was followed by her royal consort king 
George III. His majesty' died at the castle of Windsor, at a very 
adv;xnced age, and in the sixtieth year of his reign ; greatly beloved 
by his subjects, and universally respected for his many amiable and 
royal virtues. 



MODERN HISTORY. 374 



SECTION XXI. 

FRANCE, FROM THE ENTRANCE OF THE ALLIES INTO PAR- 
IS, MARCH, 1,814, TO THE FINAL EVACUATION OF IT BY 
THE FOREIGN TROOPS, 1,818. 

1. Soon after Buonaparte departed lor Elba, Louis XVIII. was 
freely recalled to the throne of his ancestors ; he liad been resident iD 
friany places since his tirst emigration, and been driven from almost 
all, by the approach of republican troops, the dread of republican 
vengeance in those who afforded him a refuge, and not imseldom the 
fear of poison or assassination. England, at length, afforded him the 
asylum he sought in vain elsevvhere: there he Uved secure against 
French armies, French inlluc-nce, and, as tar as Englishmen could 
protect him, the poisonous drug, or the sword of the assassin. Whea 
the way was opened for him to return to his native country, and re- 
ceive the crown and the throne, which his people now offered him, 
but which had been so insulted and abused, it was characteristic of 
Englishmen to rejoice at his restoration, and at the great change pre* 
pared for him, from a state of banishment, outlawry, and dependence, 
to the recovery of one of the most brilliant thrones of Europe, ana 
from which his unhappy brother had fallen in a way to excite the 
sympathy of every feeling and generous mind : his departure from 
England to France was accompanied with the acclamations and sin- 
cere gratulalions of all ranks of people : the prince legent personally 
escorted him not only to London, but from London to Dover ; and 
took, leave of him, in yght of the French coast, in a manner the 
most affecting and impressive. White tlags were exhibited on almost 
all the churches, near which he had to pass, and nothing could ex- 
ceed the joy expressed upon the overthrow of Buonaparte, and the 
restoration of the Bourbons, both in England and France. 

2. In the latter country, however, it may be naturally supposed, 
the joy could not be general, nor much of" what was expressed out- 
wardly, sincere : Louis XV III. returned to France, not as it was when 
he lelt it, but revolutionized; it had undergone great changes, and a 
large proportion of the population was deeply interested in those 
changes; yet many, who returned with him, were quite as deeply 
interested, in absolutely reversing what had passed, restoring what 
had been abolished, reclaiming what had been alienated, if not even 
punishing and degrading those who had participated in or been ben- 
elited by such revolutions. 

3. In the mean while the exiled emperor was not quiet ; he was 
too near to the French coast to be kept in ignorance of what was 

Eassing, and of the sentiments entertained towards him, by those who 
ad participated in his many glorious and triumphant achievements, 
and who could ill brook the degradation to which they might be 
doomed by the restoration of the Bourbons; the army, in particular, 
to whom indeed he had behaved not only ill, but cruelly, in his re- 
treat from Russia and Leipzig, had yet been raised by him to such a 
pitch of glory and pre-eminence, as might reasonably account lor its 
feeling both disgust anil resentment, at having been compelled to sub- 
mit to the intrusion of strangers into their country and metropolis ; 
strangers, whom they had previously been able not only to dely luid 
resist, but in some iustances, to triumph over in theii* own capitals. 



376 MODERN HISTORY. 

4. The situation of the king of France, therefore, on his return to 
his dominions, however acceptable to the greater part of Europe, 
could scarcely be such as he might himself wish or desire : it was 
impossible for him to return to the ancient state of things ; and he 
must have foreseen how dilficult it would be to render any new con 
stituticn agreeable or suitable to all parlies. The senate, indeed, 
had prepared a new constitution before his arrival; one which bore 
a conrriderable analogy to that of England ; the legislative power be- 
ing placed in the hands of the king, the senate, and the representa- 
tives of the nation at large ; and the amount, nature, and dislributiou 
of the public taxes, left exclusively to the decision of the latter: the 
deputies were to exercise their functions for the space of live years; 
the dignity of senator to be hereditary, and to be conferred by the 
king, though witli a limitation as to numbei>, which were not to ex- 
ceed 200; religious freedom, and the liberty of the press, were duly 
providefl for : this constitution was to be presented to him, to be ac- 
cepted previously to his inauguration ; but on his arrival at Paris, he 
did not choose to bind himself, further than to promise his people 
such a constitution as they \\ ould have no reason to disapprove : nis 
first care was, to arrange mallei's with the foreign potentates who 
occupied his capital, so as to be able, as speedily as possible, to get 
rid of their numerous armies ; whose presence could not fail to be a 
subject of uneasiness to his own armies, us well as to the people in 
general: to the credit of the troops themselves, under such extraor- 
dinary circumstances, it should be observed, that notliing could ex- 
ceed the order and forbearance with which they conducted them- 
selves, as victors, in a capital, which, in the way of simple retribu- 
tion, stood fairly exposed to plunder, exaction, and devastation. 

5. Though it was soon settled to reler to a convention at Vienna 
the final adjustment of matters, and arrangement of peace ; yet 
France was quickly made to understand, that ner boundaries must be 
greatly contracted, and that the independence of most of the newly 
annexed stales and territories must be freely acknowledged ; to these 
terms both the king aiul his minister, prince Talleyrand, plainly saw 
the necessity of yielding, though the pride of the French was likely 
to be wounded by it. 

6. On the 4th of June, the king presented to the senate and Icgis- 
Litive body his own new constitution, which diflered in several points 
from that submitted to him on his arrival ; it reserved to himself the 
right of proposing laws, and the assembly could only request to be 
permitted to discuss particular points; instead of an hereditary 
senate, peers, chosen by the king for life were to compose that body, 
without limitation of numbers ; the popular representatives were to 
consist of 2132, not under 40 years ol age : they were lobe convoked 
every year, and were to have the power of impeaching the minis- 
ters for treason or extortion ; the king was to appoint the judges, and 
trial by jury was to be continued : the press was placed under a cen- 
sorship/and an order was given for closing the theatres and shops on 
the ^ il'hath ; an order not only extremely unpopular at the time, 
but, as it would seem, ineftoctual. hi nominating the senate, some of 
Buonaparte's courtiers and marshals were included, particularly 
Tallevranci, who became minister for tbrcign aflairs. 

7. The kiitg, who from the (irst commencement of the revolution 
had displavi'd a disposition to favour the rights of the people, more 
than others of his family, or the chiets ot the emigrants, was little 
Ukely of himself to deviate from the principles of the constitution, 



MODERN HISTORV. 311 

or to dishirb unnecessarily the existing state of things, in which so 
many interests were involved, but he was supposed to have around 
him persons still bigotted to the ancient system, and anxious to re- 
cover all that they had torteited by the coui-se of the revolution. 
These things, together with the dissatistied state of the army, paved 
th»; way for tlie .'eturn of Buonaparte. 

8. The probabihly of such an event seems to have been strangely 
overlooked by those who were most interested in preventing it: the 
popularity of the deposed emperor had been miscalculated. On the 
1st of March, 1,815, he landed once more on the shores of France, 
with only 1,140 attendants; an attempt which many judged to be 
altogether hopeless, yet, to the utter surprise of those who thought 
so, his progress towards Paris, though not unmolested, aflbrded him 
every hour, from the defection of the troops sent against him, 
stronger hopes of recovering his authority. On the 2Ulh of March 
the king was pcreuaded to retire from Paris ; "nnd on the evening vi' 
that very, day PiUonaparte entered il, being hailed by the populace, 
which liad so lately saluted the return of the liourhons in the same 
manner, with the loudest acclamations. 

y. lie was soon coua inced, however, that he was not returned to 
his ancient power, and that he, quite as much as Louis X\ HI., would 
now be expected to gratify the people with a free constitution ; he 
speedily theretbre, issued some ^»opnlar decrees, establishing the 
freedom of the press; abolishing tlie slave-trade; and regulating the 
taxes which weighed most heavily on the people ; he also conde- 
scended to ofi'er to them the plan of a constitution, very diilerent I'rom 
the system ot" despotism upon which he had before acted, and con- 
taining many excellent regulations: he had, however, but little time 
to spare tor legislative measures. A manilesto of expulsion and ex- 
termination had been issued against him by the congress at \ icnna, 
signed by the plenipotentiaries of Austria, France, Great Ihitain, 
Russia, PVussia, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal, and it was indispensably 
necessary for him to prepare for war. To this manifesto on the part 
of the allied powers, Buonaparte was not slow in dictating and present- 
ing to Europe a counter manilesto, asserting in the strongest terms 
the right of the I'rench to adhere to the dynasty they had chosen on 
tlie expulsion of the P>ourbons ; and dec;aring that the confederate 
princes had been the first to violate the treaty of Fontainehleau ; 
but it is remarkable that, though Buonaparte so peremptorily assert- 
ed, in his manifesto, the right of the Fiench freely to choose what 
<lynasty they pleased to nign over them, he had inserted in his new 
constitution an article, totally, and for ever, to exclude the Bourbon 
family fiom the succession to the throne. 

10. It was not till June that the several armies were prepared lo 
l.die the held, and between the 15th and 19th of that month, the fate 
of liurope seenM'd once more to become dependent on the decision 
of the svyord. The battle of Waterloo, which look place on the loth 
of Jvme, and in which the British and Prussian armies, under the 
duke of Wellington and marshal Blucber, totally defeated the French, 
elTectually put an end to all the hopes and prospects of Buonaparte. 
On the 20th, he arrived at Paris, the tirst of his fugitive army ; and 
in a very few days alter, was compelled a second time to resign his 
usurped dominions. On his retirement from Paris, his destination 
appeared to be a matter of extreme doubt, till on the 15th of July he 
put himself into the hands of the English by going on board the Bel- 
krophon man of war. and surrenileting himsell' and suit uncondilioa- 



318 MODERN HISTORY. 

ally to captain MaitlanJ, the commander of that ship, who sailed im- 
mediately to Torbay with his prisoners, none of whom were per- 
initted to land. 

1 1. On the 3d of July, not however without a struggle on the part 
of the French army, Paris had formally surrendered to the duke of 
AVellington and prince Blucher, who took possession of it on the 7th, 
and on the Gth the king returned, greeted, as before, with the cheer- 
ing and acclamations ot the fickle multitudes wlio thronged the roadu 
by which he had to pass. By the terms of capitulation, the French 
troops under Davoust had been made to retire beyond the Loire, 
which they did with sullen indignation ; but on the arrival of the 
Austrians and Russians at Paris, came over to the king. It was very 
obvious, that, having Buonaparte once more in their power, the allies 
could not fail to provide all possible precautions against his return 
into any situation which might aflbrd him the means of commu- 
nicating with his old adherents, and thereby resuming the station he 
had occupied lor so many years, to their extreme annoyance. The 
small, rocky, and totally detached island of St. Helena, in the Atlantic 
ocean, seemed the only secure {»lace ot' abode to which he could be 
assigned. It was therefore agreed to send hiin thither, under the 
custody of the British government, but under the eye, also, of com- 
missioners appointed to reside there, on the pari ol' the Austrian,., 
Russian, and French governments. , On the 17lh of October, 1,815,) 
he arrivetl at his dcsthicd residence. 

12. Amongst the measures adopted by the military commanders of 
the fureign troops at Paris, none seemed more to occupy the atten- 
tion of Europe than the determination they tormed to restore to the 
places which had been robbed of them (he valuable works of art, 
which ihe victories of the French armies had put into their posses- 
sion, not merely in the way of plunder, but upon a regular system of 
purloining every thing which could add to the splendour and great- 
ness of their own capital, however grating to the leelings of those 
from whom they were taken, and however severely it must have 
added to the mortilications they had been doomed to suiler fiom 
weakness or deleat. The justice of such a step could not be dis- 
puted, though nothing was more likely to excite the resentment and 
indignation of the French, in whose hands, it must be acknowledged, 
had they been properly acquired, they were likely enough to be 
preserved and exhibited to the world, in a manner the most condu- 
cive to the glory and immortality of the illustrious artists to whom 
they owed their origin ; but, as an act of honourable reslitutiun, in 
many instances, to persons and places whose claims would otherwise 
have lieen mocked and derided, the interposition of the two victori- 
ous chiefs upon this occasion may be justly admired. Prince Blucher, 
indeed, had a direct interest in reclaiming the spoils of Berlin and 
Potzdan', but the duke of Wellington, while he had nothing to re- 
cover for his own country, freely assisted those whose pretensions re- 
quired the support of such paramount authority. 

IJ. By the second general paciiicatioix of Paris with the allies, 
November 20th, 1,815, it was agreed that an army of occupation, 
amounting to 150,000 men, and to be maintained in a great measure 
by France, should for the space of live years be put in possession of 
her frontiei- fortresses, while her boundary should be larther reduced 
than on the former occasion ; terms sutlk if. ntly rnorlilying, but justi- 
fied by the turbulent and unsettled principles of the French nation. 
TiiOw^U the period of li\e yeais, however, had been speciiicaily 



MODERN HISTORY. 379 

agreed to, the state of things afterwards appearing such as to justify 
the allies in departing from the exact letter of the treaty, in the 
spring of the year 1,817 they consented to reduce the army of oc- 
cupation one fifth, and in the autumn of 1,818, it was wholly with- 
drawn from the French territories, and the fortresses on the frontier 
restored. 



SECTION XXII. 

NORTHERN STATES OF EUROPE, FROM THE CLOSE OF THE 
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. Though much has been said of the northern courts in the pre- 
ceding sections, as bearing a part in the transactions on the continent, 
during the last and present centuries, yet as they have not been 
mentioned distinctly and particularly, some brief account of them 
may be necessary, to give a clearer view of the course of events 
during the period under consideration. 

2. Peter the great, of Rrssu, who died in 1,725, (see Sect. LXVI. 
§ 2.) was succeeded by his widow, Catherine I., wno survived him 
only two years, it is remarkable, that though Fetcr had taken par- 
ticular care to secure to the reigning monarch a power of naming 
his succ(^-sor, he shouhl liimselt' neglect this precaution ; and for 
such an omission the law had made no provision. Catherine, how- 
ever, had little or no diliiculty to take his place. She was a woman, 
if not of a superior, yet of rather an extraordinary character; had 
attended Peter ill his travels and campaigns; been serviceable to him 
in his greatest extremities; ol'ten checked the violence of hi? p;is- 
sions ; and manifested a disposition, during her short rt-ign, to encour- 
age a spirit ot liberty amongst her subjects, and to pnnr.ote, in every 
way she could, the progress of improvement and civilization. Her 
de.ith was liule expected, and excited some suspicions against the 
priuce ^lonzicoH', who had jusl negociated a treaty with Austria, and 
entered into a stipulation to raise the son of the unfortunate piiace 
Alexis to the throne, upon the condition of his marrying his daughter. 

:3. The empress died in 1,727, and was succeeded by Peter II., 
grandson of Peter I. MenzicolV, however, seemed to lake into bis 
own hands the reins of government, till he was supplanted 1>V one 
of tb.e Dolgorouki I'amiiy, and banished to Siberia, with his \', ile and 
children. The new favourite designed to many his sisti r to the 
emperor; but on January 29, 1,730, Peter died of the small-pox. 
In him the male issue of ihe line becoming extinct, Anne, duchess of 
Conrlaud, was called to the throne through the influence of JJolgo- 
rouki, contrary to the order of succession established by Peter I., and 
in prejudice of her elder sister, the duchess of Rlcckieiiburg. They 
were both uf them the daugliters of Iwap, the eldest brother of 
Peter. 

4. The reign of Anne was prosperous and glorious; she showed 
great sagacity and tirmness in resisting the intrigues, and balancing 
the credit ot rival statesmen, counsellors, and j,'etierals, Russian and 
foreign ; maintaining her prerogatives against those who sought to 
invade them, to further their own auibition, particularly Dolgorouki, 
who, though he had placed her on the throne, was disgraced and 
banished to Siberia. Anne died in 1,740, leaving the crown, by her 
will, to her grand-nephew Iwan, sou of her niece, Anne, princess of 



380 MODERN HISTORY. 

Mecklenburg, married to the duke of Brunswick Bevern ; but she 
appointed her tkvourite, count Biren, whom she had brought with 
her from Courland, regent. 

5. This last arrangement threw things into the utmost confusion. 
Biren was deservedly no favourite with the Russians, more than 
20,000 of whom he is said to have sent into banishment ; he had, 
besides, a powerful rival in count Munich, the conqueror of Ocza- 
kow, a German, and a man of singular bravery and resolution ; the 
latter succeeded in dispossessing the regent of his authority in favour 
of the mother of the emperor. Biren was sent to Siberia; and the 
princess of Mecklenburg (duchess of Brunswick) assumed the reins 
of government ; but not attending sufficiently to the duties of her 
high station, and appearing to give too great encouragement to 
foreigners, a new revolution was set on foot, to place on the throne 
the youngest daughter of Peter the great, the princess Elizabeth. 
This party, supported by French gold, and headed by Lestocq, a 
physician, quickly becoming strong, seized upon the emperor Iwan 
and his parents, and proclaimed Elizabeth empress of all the Russia*. 
The life of the infant Iwan was preserved by the clemency and ex- 
press interposition of Elizabeth ; but only to undergo a harder fate. 
(See below, § 8.) Munich was banished ; and other foreign generals, 
who had favoured the former government, either shared the same 
destiny, or contrived to escape from the Russian doniinions. The 
people were well pleased to see the throne rescued from the hands 
of tbreigners in favour of so direct a claimant as the daughter of 
Peter the great. This revolution took place in the month of Ko- 
vember, 1,741. 

6. Russia nourished under the sway of Elizabeth, whose reign ex- 
hibited an uninterrupted career of glory and success ; her alliance 
was courted by some of the greatest powers in Europe. Before her 
death, which happened in 1,762, she took care to restore the natural 
order of succession in her family, by declaring the duke of Holsieiu 
Gottorp, her heir, son of her eldest sister, and who became emperor, 
on her demise, by the title of Peter ill. 

7. This unfortunate prince was not suffered to reign long ; he had 
married a princess of Anhalt-Zerbst; a woman of singular character, 
peculiarly fitted to avail herself of any opportunities that might offer 
in so unsettled a country, to gratify her ambition, and give scope to 
her abilities. The prince had not behaved well to her, and many 
things concurred to render him unpopular, if not hateful to his sub- 
jects ; particularly an enthusiastic attachment to the king of Prussia, 
then at war with the Russians, and projected innovations, well-meant 
but ill-timed, some particularly alTecting the clergy. He proposed to 
eircumscribe the power of the nobles, and seemed to prefer the 
Holstein troops to his Russian guard. As these things rendered his- 
removal probable, according to the ordinary course of proceedings in 
that semi-barbarous country, the sagacious Catherine willingly gave 
herself up to a party who had conspired against her husband, it is 
generally conjectured that she connived, not only at the deposition, 
but at the death of Peter, who survived his elevation to the imperial 
dignity not many months; while Catherine, by her superior address 
and intrepidity, not only succeeded in establishing herself upon 'the 
vacant throne, but in emancipating herself from the domination of the 
party to whom she stood iadebted for it, (the Orloffs.) 

8. One competitor still seemed to stand in her way, — the unfortu- 
nate Iwan, — who had been deposed by Elizabeth, and now languished 



MODERN HISTORY. 381 

in confinement, at the age of twenty-four. Soon after Catherine''s 
accession he was slain in prison, on a pretence of his attempting to 
escape, but under circumstances so mysterious as to involve the em- 
press in suspicion. She reigned under the title of Catherine II. for 
the long space of upwards of thirty-four years, continually occupied 
in advancing the glory of her people, in augmenting her dominions, 
and rewarding merit. She obtained many signal advantages over the 
Turks, and succeeded (1,781) in wresting from them the whole dis- 
trict of the Crimea ; but her designs extended much farther, even to 
the expulsion of the Ottomans, and restoration of a Grecian empire, 
having for its capital Athens or Constantinople : she contemplated, in 
short, the complete triumph of the Cross over the Crescent. An ex- 
pedition was even undertaken for the liberation of the Greeks, in 
the year 1,770; but it proved ineffectual, though it might have been 
otherwise, had the Russian commanders consented to follow the ad- 
vice of the Scotch admiral, EI]ihinstone, who commanded one of the 
divisions of the fleet. 

9. Catherine bore a large share in the partition of Poland, and 
seems to have been restrained by no principles of justice, humanity, 
morality, or virtue, iVom furthering the purposes of her ambition and 
policy: her prodigality was great, her largesses enormous, and her 
love ot*"~magniticence little proportioned to the smallness of the im- 
perial revenue : her abilities and her resolution were remarkable, 
and she may be considered as having contributed largely to the im- 
provement and glory of the country over which she was permitted 
so long to bear unlimited rule. Her domestic regulations savoured 
little of the despotism displayed in her foreign enterprises : she miti- 
gated the rigour of the penal laws, abolished torture and slavery, 
protected the arts and sciences, and endeavoured to elevate the mid- 
dle class to a proper degree of importance. 

10. Catherine 11. was succeeded in 1,796 by her son Paul I., a 
strange character, unsettled in his principles, dissolute in his manners, 
jealous, vindictive, and, in his last days, scarcely in possession of his 
senses. On his first accession, however, he wisely endeavoured to 
provide against the evils arising from an unsettled inheritance, by 
enacting a law to secure the crown to his lineal and direct descen- 
dants, not absolutely excluding females, but admitting them only into 
the line of succession on a total failure of male heirs. 

11. The emperor appeared to be extremely eager to secure an 
entrance into the Mediterranean, and was highly gratified with being 
chosen patron of the order of Malta, whicii he consented to take 
under his protection in the year 1,798. He had been induced to take 
a part in the war against the French, and succeeded, in coojunctioa 
with the Turks, in getting posstssion, for a short time, of the Ionian 
islands ; a Russian army was also sent to co-operate with the Austri- 
ans, under the command of tue celebrated Souwaroiv, (or SouvaroiT,) 
who, after having achieved great victories in Lombardy, seems to 
have been cruelly abandoned in Swisserland, and to have unjustly in- 
curred the di^!pleasure of his capricious master. A misunderstanding 
between the English and Paul on the subject of Malta, entirely 
alienated the latter from the confederacy. In the mean while, his 
violent conduct had induced the great officers of state and the nobility 
to conspire to dethrone him. He was slain in defending himself, 
during a conflict, in his own chamber.j March 24, 1.801 ; and, greatly 
to the joy of his oppressed people, succeeded by his son Alexander, 



382 MODERN HISTORY. 

the present emperor, of whose accession, and share in the continental 
war, an account h;is already been given. 

12. Parssu, as a kingdom, is not older than the eighteenth centuiT, 
and entirely belongs therefore to the period nnder discussion, its 
history, as connected with the electorate of Brandenburgh, ascends 
as high, perhaps, as that of any sovereignty in Europe. Its oresent 
pouv-r may be said to have taken its rise from the wisdom, juogment, 
and good sense of the elector Frederic-William, commonly called the 
great elector, who had Ducal Prussia confirmed to him in 1,657, and^ 
by the convention of Walau and Bromberg, rendered independent of 
tfie crown of Poland, of which, till then, it had been a fief". In the 
time of the great elector, advantoge was taken of the unsettled state 
of Europe, to increase the population, and thereby advance the 
wealth and improvement of the country in every respect. The 
revocation of the edict of Nantes in France, 1,685, contributed large- 
ly to theso ends, the Prussian states being freely sot open to the ref- 
ugees of all descriptions; an act of mere policy, as the elector him- 
self, though tolerant, was extremely devout and careful of the privi- 
leges, and even exemptions of the cleigy. 

1.'5. The elector, Frederic-William, died in 1,683, and was succeed- 
ed I.J his son Frederic, who, thnuigh the influence of the protestant 
states, and the good-will ol" the emperor Leopold, to whom he had 
been of service in his contest with France, but who seems to have 
taken such a step with little judgment or consideration, became kin§ 
in 1,701, and died in 1,713, at the very period when, by the treaty ol 
Utrecht, his regal title was contirnied and generally acknowledged 
by the other states of Europe. Frederic 1. was generous, but tickle, 
superstitious, and vain; he founded the University of Hall, the Royal 
Society of Berlin, and the Academy of Nobles, but without taking 
much interest in their concerns, and chiefly at the instigation of his 
more learned consort, the princess Charlotte of Hanover ; he man- 
aged, however, to augment, by many acquisitions, purchases, and 
exchanges, the extent of his dominions. 

14. Mis successor, Frederic-William II., is judged to have done 
much more to raise the credit and character of bis new kingdom, by 
exce-ssive prudence, and good management, and the utmost attention 
to his ariiij'; whereby he not only repaired the losses occasioned by 
his fallers extraviigunces, but amassed great treas>ues, and laid the 
foundation for those stupendous niiiitary achievements, whicli, in the 
next reign, advanced Piussia to that high state of glory and eminence 
which has given it such weight in tlie political scale of Europe. 
Frederic^ abolished, in 1,717, all the fiefs in his kingdom; he invited 
colonies from all parts to settle in bis dominions. Like his great pred- 
ecessor and namesake, he esfublifthed military schools and hospitals, 
but he was no friend to literature ; unpolished in bis mannei-s, and 
implacable in hi'^ resentment. He added to the dominions of Prussia, 
Stettin and the greater part of Swedish Pomorania. 

15. On the death of Frederic-William II., in 1,740, his son, (who 
is sometimes called Frederic II., to distinguish him from the Frederic- 
Wiiliams, and sometimes Frederic 111.,) came to the throne. Of this 
monarch so much is known, and so much has already been noticed 
and recorded in the other sections of this work, that we have little 
to say here, but that he managed to raise a scatteied. ill-sorted, dis- 
jo'nted kingdom into the tii-st rank of power and renown ; that he 
applied himself incessantly to promote the welfare and improvement 



MODERN HISTORY. 38S 

of his dominion*", to augment the wealth and advance the civilization 
of his people, though, in many of his regulations and measures to 
this end, he erred occasionally as his jiredecessors had done, for want 
of a due knowledge of some of the hrst principles of political econ- 
omy, a science at that period little cultivated. Frederic died August, 
l,73t), in the seventy-lifth year of his age, and tbrtj-seventh of his 
reign, more admired than esteemed; more distinguished for bravery 
in the fuld, wisdom in the cabinet, and literary attainment?, than iW 
5iny virtues or qualities of a nobler nature, lie has had the reputa- 
tion of being the author of two very important measures, the parti- 
tion of i'oland. and the armed neutrality. The ciedit of the tiist 
mav probably be very taiily (iivide.l between himsell" and Catherine 
of Russia ; the second, as a matter of self-defence, and a jealous re 
card for the liberty of the seas, reflects no dishonour on his character. 
It is a point that should be better settled th.m it seems to be, by the 
strict rules of international and maritime law. 

16. Kn'derir was succeeded by his nephew Frederic-^Villiam. Of 
the part taken by this monarch in support of the house of Orange, 
in IJ.'n, of his opposition to the French, in 1,7'J'2, and of the sliare 
he bad in the two last partitions ot Poland, in 1,79."^ and 1,795, by 
which he gained the territories, tirst of South Frussia, and, secondly 
of Sontb-castern I'russia, an acco'uit has been given elsewhere. 
Frederic-William 11. died in 1,797, aged tifty-three, leaving the crown 
to his son, the present king, Frederic HI., who, as he came to the 
throne at the moment that liiionaparte began his extraordinary c.i 
reer. in di->tnrbance of the peace of the continei;!, was necessarily 
involved in all the diflioulties and confusion of those times, as has 
het'u already shown : he joined the armed neutndily in 1,8U(.», caused 
Hamburgh to be shut against the Fnglish, and occni'icd the states o( 
Hanover, l,u01, which being annexed by France to I'russia, in l.o'J.'), 
in exchange lor a part of the duchy ol' Cleves, Anspach, Baieutii, 
Neufchatcl, and \'alengin, provoked the resentment ol' England and 
Sweden. In 1,80G, the king rashly engaged in war with France, and 
was nearly deprived of his kingdom : the losses he sustained by the 
treaty of Tilsit, have i)een mentioned. (Sect. XV 1.) In 1,C12, Fi>«l- 
eric was compelled by France to furnish an auxiliary force against 
Russia, but was aflerkvaids, on the retreat of the French iVom Mos- 
cow, able to break through this engagement, and conclude a treaty 
ot neutrality with Russia. From this time to the abdication of >i'a- 

{)oleon, Prussia actetl in close confederacy with the allies, the king 
>eing constantly with his army till their entrance into Paris, March, 
1,814. On the return of Buonaparte, 1,815, the Prussians were the 
first to take the tield, under their celebrated g.-neral, prince Bhicber, 
and in the battle of \Vaterloo, reaped the splendid glories of that day 
in conjunction with the British. Since that time, Prussia has enjoyed 
a state of peace, though not undisturbed as to her internal concerns. 

17. The crown of Swt:i>F.\, on the demise of Charles XII., 1,718, 
(see Sect. LXVl. § 9. Part II.) was conferred on his voun|;(si sisteij 
Ulrica Fleanora, by the free election of the states. On the death ol 
Charles, whose strange proceedings had greatly exhausted thi- king- 
dom, and occasioned the actual loss of many provinces, an onpoi tuni- 
ty was taken, once more, to limit the kingly power, which had been 
rendereil almost absolute in the reign of^Charles XI., and to make 
the crown elective. The new queen, who was married to the hered- 
itary prince of Hesse Cassei, and who had been offered the crown in 
prejudice of the son and representative of her elder sister, the 



384 MODERN HISTORY. 

duchess of Holstein Gotforp, readily submitted to tlie conditions pro- 
posed by the states for limiting the royal authority, but soon after hpr 
accession resigned the government to lier royal consort, who was 
crowned by the title of Frederic I.. 1,720. 

18. The new king ruled the nation with little dignity and less spir- 
it; submitting to every thing imposed on him by the states, till the 
governm^^nt became more republican than nionairliical. The Swe- 
dish territories were also much rcfiuccd during the early part c( his 
reign. In the course of the years 1,719. 1,720, 1,721, Sweden ceded 
to Hanover, Bremen, and Verden ; to Pru«<ia, the town of Stettin ; 
and to Ru^^sia, Livonia, Esthonia, ingria, VViburg, a part ol" Carelia, 
and several islands. 

19. It was during this reign that the rival factioiT^ of llie Hiils and 
Caps had their origin, and which cau^^ed great troni.le ; the former 
l>euig generally under the inlluence of France, the i.ilter of Russia. 
To deter the latter iVom assisting the queen of ilungarv. in tiie war 
that took place on the death of (. Iiarles \ I.. Kriuice mi.'e use of its 
intluence with the JJats, to involve Svved<'n iii hoslililu> uilli Russia, 
for which slie was ill-jireparod, and from nliich she s\itlered consid- 
er.ddy. Jler losses were restored to her in some measure by the 
peac* of Abo, 1,743, but upon the positive comlitjon that Frederic 
slionid adopt as his heir and successor, al (he instance of the czarinn, 
Adolpbus-Frederic, bishop of Eubec, uncle to the duke of HoUtf in 
Gottorp, presumptive heir to the throne of Russia, and nephew to 
tlie queen of Swetlen, who would more willingly have hail Ihe latter 
for her successor. 

20. Adolphus-Frederic came to the crown in 1,751. The fnme 
factions which had di<lur!>ed the f(»nner reign continued to give him 
trouble, and though he made some endeavoui-s to get the better < f 
foreign intluence, and recover his lost authority, all his etforts were 
vain. Nothing could exceed the anar< hy and confu^^ion that prevail- 
ed, encouraged and fomented both by j-tiis-ia nnd France, to turtlier 
their private ends. The king i-^ supposed to bave tallen a sncritice 
to these disturliances. dying wliolly «lispirited in the yenr 1.771. 

21. He was succeeded by his eldest son Gu-^tavus HI., twenty-five 
years old at the time ol his accession ; a Swede by birth, and an ac- 
tive and spirited prince, who was bent upon recovering what his 
predecessors had too tamely surrendered ot their rights and {irerog- 
atives; in which, being supported by France, he had the good fortune 
to succeed. Having found means to conciliate the army, and to rec- 
oncile the people to an attack >ipon the ari?(orrats, who were betray- 
ing the interests of the country, he established a new constitution, 
1,772, with such good management and address, (hat the jnsblic tran- 
quillity was scarcely for a moment disturbed. 'I'his new arrangement 
threw great power into the hands ol" the king, by leaving bim tiie 
option of convening and dissolving the states, willi the entice disposal 
ol the army, navy, and all public appointments, ci\ il, military, and 
ecclesiastical; some alterations were made in 1,789, but nothing 
could reconcile the party whom he had superseded; at least it is 
probable that this was the occasion of the cnlnslrophe which tenni- 
nated the life of the unfortunate monarch. Towards the commence- 
ment of the French revolution, in the year 1,792, when he was pre- 
paring to assist Lewis XVI., (an unpopular undertaking.) he was 
assassinated at a masquerade by a person encouraged, it not directly 
employed, by the discontented party of 1,772. 

22. Gustavus III. was brave, polite, well-intbrmed, and of a ready 



..lODERN HISTORY. 385 

eloquence ; but profligate in his habits of Hie, and careless as to mat- 
ters ot" religion. He promoted lettei-s, agriculture, and commerce, 
as far as his means would enable him to do so. His measures appear 
to have been more arbitrary than his disposition. 

23. His son Gustavus IV. beini^ only fourteen years old at the time 
of his fatliers death, the duke o[ Sudermania, l»rother of the deceas- 
ed king, became regent i'or a short time. No monarch in Europe 
manifested a greater zeal in the cause of the French royal family, 
or disgust at the arbitrary proceedings of Liuonaparte, than tinstavus 
IV., but he was little able to give eflect to his wishes; his judgment 
being weak, and his forces inadequate to contend with the French, 
especiaJly after the latter, bj- the treaty of Tilsit, (see Sort. XV 1.) 
had tbund means to detach and conciliate tlie eniperor Alexander. 
Alter this disastrous treaty, CJustavus became not only the object of 
French rc^entmetit, but of Russian rapacity. He was peremptorily 
forbidden to admit the English into his ports, and FinlatKl was quickly 
wrested Irom him. 'I'he Danes also attacked him. In this dilemma, 
Englaiirl would have assisted him if she could have trusted him, but, 
in truth, his rashness and incapacity were become too apparent to 
justify any such contidence. A revolution was almost necessary, nor 
was it long bet'ore a conspiracy was formed, which, in the 3 ear 1,809, 
succeeded so lar as to induce him to abdicate. His uncle, the duke 
of Sudermania. being appointed protector, and very soon atlerwards 
king, by the title ot Charles Xlll., the slates carrying their resent- 
ment against Gustavus IV. so far, as to exclude his posterity also from 
the throne. 

24. Charles XIII. submitted to new restrictions on the kingly au- 
thority, and ha\ ing no issue, lilt it to the nation to nominate an heir 
to the crown. Their lirst choirr fell upon the prince of Augusten- 
burg, a Danish subject, but his death happening soon afterwards, not 
without suspicion of tbul play, Hernadotte, one of Ruonanarte's gen- 
erals, was, in a very extraordinary manner, nominated in Ids room by 
the king, and approved by the states. As crown prince ot Swedei\, 
tempted by the ofl'er of Norway, he joined the conlederacy against 
liuonanarle in 1,813, and was present at the battle ol^ Leipzig. (See 
Sect. XX.) On the death of Charles Xlll., 1,818, he succeeded to 
the crown, and still reigns, having, by the treaty of N'ienna, 1,815, 
obtained Norway, and the island ol Guadaloupe. 

2b. The history of Df-nmahk during the eighteenth century, and 
beginning of the nineteenth, is very uninteresting, in a political jioint 
ol' view. Incapable of taking any leading or conspicuous part in the 
atfaii"S of Europe, all that we know concerning her relates rather to 
other countries, as Russia, Sweden, Prussia, France, and England ; in 
»vhose friendships an<l hostilities she has been compelled, by circum- 
stances, to take a part, little advantageous, if not entirely detrimental, 
to her own i{)terests. 

2i5. Five kings have occupied the throne since the close of the 
seventeenth century, but it will be necessary to say very little of 
them. Frederic IV., who came to the crown in l,Git9, diecl in 1,730, 
and was succeeded by Christian \ I. ; a monarch who paid great at- 
tention to the welfare of his subjects, in lightening the taxes, and en- 
couraging trade and manufactures. He reigned sixteen yeai-s, and 
was succeeded by his son Frederic V., in the year 1,746. Frederic 
trod in the footsteps of his father, by promoting knowledge, encour- 
aging the manulactures, and extending the commerce of his country. 
He had nearly been embroiled with Russia during the six months' 
K k rj 



386 MODERN HISTORY. 

reign of the unfortunate Peter III., uho. the moment he became em- 
peror, resolved to revenge on the court of Denmark the injuries 
which had been committed on his ancestors of the house of Holstein 
Gottorp. In these attempts he was to be assisted by the king of 
Prussia. The king of Denmark prepared to resist (lie attacks with 
which he was threatened, but tbe dopositiun and death of the em- 
peror fortunately reUeved him from all apprehensions, and he was 
able to compromise matters with Catlieiine II., by a treaty that was 
not to take effect till the grand duke I'aul came of'^age. Hy this con- 
vention, the empress ceded to Denmark, in tbe name of her son, the 
duchy of Sleswick, and so much of J lolstcin as appertained to tbe 
Gottorp branch of that family, in exchange tor the provinces of Ol- 
denburg and Dalmcnhorst. 

27. trederic V. died in 1,766, and was succeeded by his son Chris- 
tian Vll., who, in 1,760, married tbe princess Caroline IMalilda of 
England, sister to his majesty king George Ml. The principal event 
in this reign was one wbirli involved tbe unhappv queen in inextric- 
able dithculties, and probably hastened her deatfi ; but n bich seems 
still to be enveloped in considerable mystery. A German physician 
of the court, (Struensee,) who bad risen from rather a low station in 
life to be tii"st minister, having rendered himself extremely obnoxious 
by a most extensive reform in all the public ollires of state, civil and 
military, and which, had they succeeded, might have done him great 
credit as a statesman, was accused of intriguing with the young 
queen, and by the violence of his enemies, headed and encouraged 
by Juliana Maria, tbe queen-dowager, and lier son |)rinre Frederic, 
brought most ignoniiniou>ly to the bcafiold. Tbe unfortunate queen 
Caroline, whose lite was probably saved only by tbe spirited inter- 
position of the British minister, quilted Denmark alter tbe execution 
of Stniensee and his coadjutor rr.uull. and having retired to /e|| in 
Germany, painfully separated lV^)m her rliiliirrn, there ended her 
days. May 10. 1,775. in the twenty-fonrth year ot' her age. 

28. During the latter part of his life, Christian \ II., whose nr.der- 
standing had always been weak, fell into a state of mental derange- 
ment, and the government was carrierl on by the queen-dowager and 
prince Frederic, as co-regents, with the aid of Harnstofl". an able and 
patriotic minister. In 1,773, the cession of Ducal Ilol-tein to J)en- 
niark by Russia took place, according to the treaty aliove spoken of: 
this was a very imjiortant acquisition, as gi\ ing her tbe conmiaiid of 
the whole Cimbrian peninsula, and enabling her, by Ibrming a canal 
from Kiel, to connect the Baltic with the German ocean. In the 
continental wars of 1,788, 179;), Denmark remained neuter, but by 
joining the armed neutrality in 1,8(K). she excited the suspicions and 
resentment of Great Britain, and, being supposed to favour not only 
Russia but France, became involved in a contest. whi< h was attended 
with losses and vexations the most melancholy and deplorable. (See 
Sect. XX. § 9.) 

29. Christian VII. died in 1,788, and was succeeded by his son 
Frederic V'l., the present monarch, who had, a few years before, on 
entering the seventeenth year of his age, been admitted to his projier 
share in the government, hnving with singular moderation and pru- 
dence succeeded in taking the administration of affairs out of the 
hands ot the queen-dowager and her part}'. Denmark appears to 
have suffered greatly from tbe peculiarity of her situation during the 
struggles arising out of the French revolution, being continually 
forced into alliances contrary to her own interests, and made at last to 



MODERN HISTORY, 387 

contribute more largely than almost any state, to the establishment 
of peace. The cession of iV'orway to Sweden, which had been held 
out by the allies as a boon to the latter power, to induce her to join 
the last confederacy against France, being a severe loss to Denmark, 
and very ill requited by ihe transfer of Pomerania and the Isle of 
Kugen, w hich were all tlhat she received in exchange. 



SECTION XXIII. 

SOUTHERN STATES OF ELROPE, FROM THE CLOSE OF THE 
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

1. The southern states of Europe underwent such extraordinary 
revolutions during (he preponder.mce of the French under Buona- 
parte, that what happened to them during (he eighteenlh century, 
ijreviousiy to these surprising events, seems comparatively of very 
little conj^equence ; of trie changes and disturbances to which they 
were subject through the interference of (he French, an account is 
to be found in the sections relating to France. 

2. Swny.na-\.Nn ut the beginning of the eighteenth century was in- 
volved in dis|)u(e9 between the pmtcstants and catholics, which were 
attended witli very unpleasant circumstances. These ditferences, 
however, were brought to an end by a convenOon in 1,717, which 
es(al)lish('d an equality ol religious rights. Things remained very 
quiet in most of the cantons from this time to the 1- rench revolution, 
uilh the exception of the town.s of tJeneva and Heme, and a lew 
other pbces, where a disposition was manifested to limit and rcstniin 
the ari«itocratical governments, but which oidy led at that time to 
such judicious reforms, as were sullicient to appease the ardour of the 
people. These disputes, however, may be held to have contributed 
to the evil.s ivhich befel (he country afterwards. Though the states 
endeavoured to preserve their neuti-ality during the progress of the 
French revolution, it was not possible, while revolutionary principles 
were afloat, to keep the country so fiee from internal Jisputos and 
commotions, or so united, as to deter the French Irom interfering. 
Geneva had already been cajoled out of her independence, but the 
first decisive occasion atloriled to the French of taking an active part 
in the alTairs of Swisserland, arose out of the disputes, in 1,70(^ rel- 
ative to the Favs de \ aud ; the gentry and ( ui/.ens of which, not 
thinking themselves sullicient ly favoured by the rulers of Renie and 
Friboiu'g, began to be clamorous for a ch;iiige. The peasantry of 
liable also, instigated by an emissary of the French directory, de- 
manded a new con.-«ti(ution. These tlisputes opened the way for the 
introduction of French troops, (ii-st under the ordoi"s ot the directory, 
and atterwards under liuonaparte, as has been shown in our account 
of France ; and from that period to the conclusion of the war in 
1,81.'), Switzerland can 8c;u"cely be said to have known a year of 
repose. 

;}. Of the condition of Vfaicf. during the eighteenth century, much 
may be collected (rom the I'oregoing sections. She lost the Morea in 
1,7 18, but acquired in exchange some towns in AHiania and Dalmatia. 
Some ecclesiastical reforms took place in the middle of the last cen- 
tury, at which period many convents were supjiressed, am; the Jesuits 
expelled. Venice endeavoured to remain neuter during the tirst 



388 MODERN HISTORY. 

movements of the French revolution, but was soon tlrawn into the 
vortex when Buonaparte assumed the command of the French army. 
By the treaty of Campo Formio, 1,797, (see Sect. XV'.) her dooin 
was sealed, and this celebrated republic entirely overthrown. 

4. In Rome, since the close of the eighteenth century, there has 
been a succession of many popes, though the last two have tilled the 
papal chair longer than might be expected, in a sovereignty where 
the election is generally made from persons advanced in yeai"s. Lit- 
tle more than the " magni nominis umbra" remained to the popes at 
the beginning of the eighteenth century, of that temporal power 
which at one time or other had shaken every throne in Furope. 
The clergy of France in particular had ctfectually asserted that kings 
and princes, in temporal concerns, were independent of the ecclesi- 
aMical authority. Clement XI., who was of the family of the Albani, 
and assumed the tiara in the year 1,700, opposed the erection of 
Prussia into a kingtloin ; an extraordinary measure of interposition, 
and which had so little weight as almost to expose his court to ridi- 
cule. He espoused the French interests in the contest concerning 
the Spanish succession, though in 1,708 he w;is compelled, hy the 
vigorous proceedings of the emperor, to acknowledge Charles Uf. 
king of Spain. From this pope the famous bull uni^enitm was ex- 
torted by the .lesuits, to the great disturbance of France, and the 
whole Romish church ; and the consequences of which, indeed, may 
be traced even in the present state and circumstances of Furope. 

r». Po[)e Clement XL died in 1,721, autl was succeeded by the car- 
dinal Michael AngeloConti, who took the name of Innocent Xlll., biit 
being far advanced in years, livftd a veiy short time, dying on the 3d 
of March, 1.724, and on the 29th of May following, cardinal Ui-sini, 
Benedict Xlll., was chosen his successor. During his papacy, Com- 
machio, which had been lost to the Roman see in the time of Clem- 
ent XI., was recovered; Benedict was zealous lor the honour of the 
bull unigenitus, and in conjunction with cardinal Floury, succeeded 
in procuring the cardinal de Noailles, one of the most res'pectable and 
zealous opposers of it in France, to .subscribe it. He had a disposi- 
tion to unite the Roman, Greek, Lutheran, and relbrmed churches, 
but conld not s-jcceed. He died 1,7.50, more admired for his virtues 
anrl talents, than prai-^ed for his wisdom in the management of affairs. 

G. r.t nedict Xlll. was succeeded by Clement Xll., Laurence Cor^i- 
ni, a Florentine, who-e public acts' were of little importance. He 
had disputes with the king of Sardinia, the republic ot Venice, with 
the empire and Spain ; but much of his pontiticate was passed in 
tranquillity. He died on the 6th of February, 1.740. He made con- 
siderable and valuable additions to the Vatican library. On his 
death, a struggle arose between the Albani and Corsini families, and 
the conclave was much agitated. The former prevailed, and suc- 
ceeded in elevating cardinal Prosper Lambertini to the papal chair, 
who took the title of Benedict XlV. His government ot the chiirch 
was extreinely mild, and he was regarded as no favourer of the 
Jesuits, who, during his pontiticate, fell into disrepute in Portugal, 
the tirst symptom of their decline and fall. This pope was a man of 
most amiable manners, a great writer, and possessed of considerable 
learning. He corrected several abuses, particularly such as had 
arisen out of the privileges of asylum. He carefully endeavoured to 
keep clear of disputes and contests, thinking the times unfavourable 
to the papal authority. He died in the year 1,758. 

7. The cardinal Rezzonico succeeded Benedict XIV., and took the 



MODERN HISTORY. 389 

title of Clement XIII. His pontificate is memorable for being the 
apra of the expulsion of the order of Jesuits, (in some instances un- 
der circumstances of very unjustifiable precipitation,) from Portugal, 
France. Spain, Naples, Sicily, Parma, Venice, and Corsica, notwith- 
standing the utmost efforts of the pope to uphold them ; many of 
them were actually landed from Spain. Portugal, Naples, and Sicily, 
on the nope's territories, as though it belonged to him to maintain 
them wlien abandoned by the catholic sovereigns. The pope re- 
monstrated, but with little effect. The French seized upon Avignon, 
and the Neapolitans upon Benevento, to induce him to abandon the 
order, but he would not. Clement XIII. died surldenly, on Felnuary 
2, 1,769, and was succeeded by the ccleorated Ganganelli, who. in 
compliment to his predecessor antl patron, took the title of Clement 
XIV5 This enlightened poutitT was sensible of the decline of the 

Eapal authority, and of the prudence of conciliating, if not of 
umouring, the sovereigns of Furope, against whom, he was accus- 
tomed to observe, the Alps and the Pyrenees were not sufticient pro- 
tection. It was in consetpience of this leaning towards the temporal 
princes, that he secured their concurrence to his being made pope, 
nis freedom of thought and manners being otherwise obnoxious to 
the court of Home. The conclave, by which he was elected, was 
tumultuous ; but at length the cardinal tie Bernis succeeded in pro- 
curing him to be chosen pope. May, I,7G9. It is well known that 
this accomplished pontiff, in the year 1.77.3, after much (ielii)en»tion, 
suppressed the order of .le^uits; and, dying in the next year, suspi- 
cions were raised that he had been poisonetl. but, on "opening bin 
body, in the presence of the French anil Spanish ministers, enemies 
to the .lesuits, it was pronounced otherwise. There is little doubt 
but that he regretted, as head of the church, the step he had been 
compelled to take; it procured for him, imlr-ed, the restitution of 
Avignon and Benevento, which had been taken (Vom his predecessor; 
but in consenting to the dissolution ol' ;in order so essential to the 
papal dominion, be must, in all probability, have yielded to the power 
of irresistible circumstances. He was of ;in amiable disposition, 
much given to literature, indel'atigable in business, ;md highly re- 
spected by foreign nations, plain and simple in his manners, and very 
disinterested. 

f 8. Early in the year 1,775, Angiolo Brasch!, a descendant of the 
noble family of Cesena, was chosen to fill the chair vacated by the 
death of Ganganelli. The new pope took the title of Piu'* \ I. He 
is said to have been elected contrary to the wishes and intentions of 
most of the members of the conclave, a circumsta?ice not uidikely to 
happen amidst such a contrariety of inti'rests, and the complicated 
forms of proceeding. As he had thus ri<en to supreme power, he 
acted afterwards more independently of the cardinals, than any of 
his predecessors. 

9. He had taken the name of Pius VI., in acknowledged defiance 
of a prevailing superstition, exnresse»l in the following verses, and 
applied to Alexander VI. particularly, if not to olhei-s. 

" Sextus Tarquinius, Sextus Nero, sextus et iste 
Semper sub sextis, perdita Rouia fuit." 

he is known to have, in his troubles, reflected on this rather sin- 
gular circumstance, with sorrow and dismay. Certaiidy no pope had 
greater indignities to sustain, nor could any have greater cause to 
Kk2 



390 MODERN HISTORY. 

apply to themselves the ominous presages conveyed in the lines just 
cited ; for in the year 1,7913 his government was overthrown, and 
Rome lost. The French took possession of it and proclaimed the 
restoration of the Roman republic. 

10. Tiie pope's troubles began in 1,796, when he was compelled 
to cede to Buonaparte the cities of Bologna, L rbino, Ferrara, and 
Ancona, to pay twenty-one millions of francs, and deliver to the 
French commi?;sionei's, sent for the purposes, pictures, busts, statues, 
and vases, to a large amount. He afterwards endeavoured to raise 
an army to recover what he had lost ; but he had formed a very 
xvrong estimate of the power of his opponent. He was soon com- 
pelled, February \2, 1^797, to sue lor peace, and submit to turther 
sacrilices at the will of Buonaparte, whom he had certainly very in- 
cautiously provoked. By the peace of Tolentino, he renounced all 
right to Avignon and the Vanaissin, Bologna, Ferrara, and the Romag- 
na. On the entrance of the French in 1,798, the Vatican and (^^uu"- 
inal palaces, and private mansions of the obnoxious amongst the 
nobility, were stripped of all their ornaments and riches. The peo- 
ple who had invited the French, fancied themselves free, but had 
very little cause to thank their deliverers. The pope was forcibly 
removed from Rome, at the age of eighty, and, by order of the 
French directory, transferred from place to place, as the course of 
events dictated, from Rome to Florence, from Florence to Briancon, 
and from Briancon to \ alence. Another removal to Dijon is said to 
have been in contemplation, had not the decline of his health become 
too visible to render it necessary. He died at the latter place on the 
29th of August, 1,799, in the eighty-second year of his age, and 
twenty-fourth of his pontiticatej 

1 1. Fins VI. was correct in his manners, and a patron of genius, 
particularly of the tine arts. He spent much money on buildings, 
notwithstanding the distressed state of the tinances, and devoted large 
sums to the draining of the Pontine marshes, in which almost im- 
practicable undertaking, he partly succeeded. He endeavoured to 
correct the abuses of suuciuary, which had been carried so far as to 
give impunity to hired assassins, much to the disgrace of those who 
protected them. It deserves to be recorded of him, that he display- | 
• d great magnanimity, as well as pious resitjnation, when dragged t| 
from his dominions; and ihough he feltsevcrely the wrongs that had . 
been committed against him by the French and the infatuated Ro- 
mans, he died tranquilly and seienely. 

12. it is remarkable that he b.ad scarcely been dead a month, when 
Rome was delivered from the hands of its opi)rcssors, and given up ,' 
lo the British, whose Ilfet, uinler commodore Trowbridge, had block- / 
ed up the port of Civila \'ecchia. Those who had favoured the re; I 
|)ublican cause were permitted to retire, and the French garrison I 
march'-'d out with the honours of war. \ 

13. In the monlii of March, 1,800, a conclave of cardinals, under / 
the protection of the einneror and other catholic powers, met at I 
N'enioe to elect a succcs^-or to Tins VI., and was not long in fixing I 
upon the cardinal Chiarernonte, bishop of Tivoli, the present pope " 
Vius Vll. In a few weeks after his election, he set out for his new ■. 
dominions, and arrived at Rome on the 9th of July. In the month | 
of September, 1,801, lie had the satisfaction of concluding a concor- ] 
daiuui with the French republic, by which, under the auspices of I 
Buonaparte, then first consul, the Roman catholic religion was re- * 
established there. Not only heresy, but inlidelity and atheism, had / 



MODERN HISTORY. 391 

been so openly encouraged and avowed by the French revolutionists, 
that Pius appears to have thought no concessioiis too great to ac- 
complish this end ; for the terms of the agreement undoubtedly sub- 
jected the Gallican church entirely to the civil government, canoni- 
cal institution being almost the only privilege reserved to the pope, 
and every possible encouragement being, at the same time, given to 
the protestant churches, Lutheran and Calvinistic. 

13. It was very soon discovered, that the new head of the Roman 
church, was to be made to bow as low to the authority of Buonaparte 
as his predecessor. In 1,804 Pius VII. was summoned to Paris to 
olticiate at the coronation of the French emperor ; and though in 
the year following he declined attending a similar ceremony at 
Milan, as has been already shown, it seems only to have exposed him 
to greater sacrifices. In 1,808 he was deprived of Urbino, Aucona, 
Macerata, and Camerino, and soon atler his temporal sovereignty 
was formally dissolved, and the papal territories annexed to France. 
Rome was declared to be a free and imperial city ; the court of in- 
quisition, the temporal jurisdiction of the clergy, the right of asylum, 
and other privileges were abolished, and the title of king of Rome ap- 
propriated to the heir of the French empire. Pius was coiivt-yed 
first to Grenoble, afterwards to Savona, and finally, in 1,812, to Fou- 
tainebleau, where, for reasons unknown, he was once more acknowl- 
edged as a sovereign, till the advance of the allies upon Paris, at last, 
procured him his liberty; and in 1,814 he was reinstated; he made 
his solemn entrance into Rome on the 24th of May ; and in 1,815, 
by the arrangements of the congress of \'ienna, his fort'eited estates 
were re-annexed to the papal dominions. His restoration of the 
order of Jesuits and of the court of inquisition, on his return, occa- 
sioned some concern to the greater part of Eiu'ope ; but his holiness 
has. generally had the credit of being a man of sense, prudence, and 
moderation. 



SECTION XXIV. 
OF INDIA, OR HINDOOSTAN. 

1. India or Hindoostan having largely engaged the attention of 
Eiirope since the close of the seventeenth century, may deserve 
some distinct notice, though little is to be added to what has already 
been related in I'ormer sections, of the political events and transac- 
tions which have occurred in that remote region of the globe, during 
the period alluded to. 

2. The celebrated Aurungzebe, who occupied the throne of Del- 
hi, at the coinn)encement of the eighteenth century, lived to the 
year 1,707. In bini the spirit of the great Tiinur, from whom he 
was the eleventh in descent, seemed to revive. He was brave, but 
cruel. He attained to a great age, being nearly a hundred years 
old when he died, having succeeded in rendering almost the whole 
of the peninsula subject to his sway, from the tenth to the thirty-tifth 
degree of latitude, and nearly as much in longitude. 

3. But if Aurungzebe thus raised in his own person the credit of 
the mogul throne. Us glory also perished with him. A sad scene of 
confusion ensued upon his death. He had himselt, indexed, waded to 
the throne through the blood of his own kindred. After deposing 
his father, two of his brothers were slain in contending tor the crown. 



392 MODERN HISTORY. 

But such was the nature, generally, of the political revolutions of 
those countries, that had not this been the case, the life of Aurungze- 
be himself might probably have been sacriticed to similar views and 
purposes. He is said to have bitterly repented of his misdoings be- 
fore he died. 

4. No sooner, however, was he dead, than the most violent con- 
tests arose between his own sons, two of whom, Azem and ICaum 
JBuksh, perished in their opposition to their elder brother, who be- 
came emperor, under the title of Bahader Shah. The throne, in- 
deed, was such an object of contention, that, in the small space of 
eleven years, live princes, who attained to the throne, and six, who 
were candidates for it, successively fell victims to the lusts and pas- 
sions of their semi-barbarous competitors. It was in the reign of 
Feroksere, who was deposed in 1,717, that the English East India 
Company obtained the famous tirman or grant, by which their goods 
of export and import were exempted from duties, and which has been 
regarded as their commercial charter in India,; no other European 
companies being similarly indulged. 

5. In the lime of Mahmud or Muhammed Shah, who came to the 
throne in the year 1,718, and who was engaged in disputes with some 
of his most powerful neighbours and dependents, the celebrated 
usurper of the Persian throne. Nadir Shah, encouraged, or even in- 
vited, as it has been said, by some of the discontented princes, particu- 
larly the subahdar of the Dcckan, invaded the dominions of the Mo- 
gul, and with such success, as in the year 1,739, to seize upon Delhi, 
tlie capital, with all its treasures, and compel the unhappy sultan, to 
surrender, with the utmost ignominy, his crown and sceptre. He 
was, indeed, aftervvards restoi-ed, but with the loss of all his domin- 
ions west of the Indus, together with jewels and treasures to an in- 
calculable amount ; some indiscreet insult, offered to the Persians, 
having been the alleged provocation for delivering the city up to 
plunder, and the inhabitants to the sword, with every cruelty and in- 
dignity attendant upon such misfortunes. This miserable capital 
afterwards underwent a second Aisitation of the same description, 
from one of the followers of Nadir Shah, Abdallah, who had, indeed, 
been forced into his service, but found means to take advantage of 
his master's victories, by seizing upon the territories west of the In- 
dus, ceded to Nadir by the unfortunate mogul, and erecting a sove- 
reignty lor iiimself at Candahar. Nadir Shah was assassinated in his 
tent, in 1,747. 

6. By tbe invasion of the Persians, the power and glory of the 
moguls may be said to have been brought to an end. From that; 
period the subordinate states, princes, and viceroys, began to aspire 
to a degree of independence, and to acquire a consequence beibre 
unknown ; the mogu! himself becoming a mere nominal sovereign. 
Those who were njost raised at this time by the depression of the 
sultanic authority, appear to have been — 

Tbe Nizam or Subahdar, of the Deckan ; the Nabot of Arcot, or 
the Carnatic ; the Subahdar of Bengal ; the Nabob of Oude; the 
Rajahpoote Princes of Agimere ; the Mahrattas ; the Seiks ; the 
Rohillas, and the Jats. 

The disputes and differences that took place between these several 
powers, after they had shaken off the yoke of the mogul, opened 
the door for the interference of the European settlers, towards the 
middle of the eighteenth century. (See Sect. VI. § 2.) The French 
iirst, and afterv/ards the English, contrived to take advantage of the 



MODERN HISTORY. 393 

rival claims set up by the different native powers, and by rendering 
them assistance against each other, and it is to be feared greatly fo- 
menting their quarrels, soon became acquainted with the manifest 
superiority of their own tactics, and the influence this must give them 
in such contests. The FVench went farther, and tirst hit upon the 
expedient of training the natives in the European manner, and in- 
corporating them with their own armies ; these »vere called Sepoys. 

7. It was not long before the French and English, who had at first 
only taken the field as auxiliaries, became opposed to each other as 
principals; in which conflicts the English succeeded beyond all ex- 
pectation, and instead of being driven out of the peninsula themselves, 
which was evidently in the view of the French under Dupleix, in 
the year 1,751 and 1,752, found means to establish themselves there, 
through the victories of Clive, to the exclusion of all other European 
nations, except for purposes purely commercial. 

8. Clive has justly been regarded as the founder of the British 
empire in India ; he was the first to procure for the company grants 
of territory and assignments of revenue, \vhich totally changed the 
character of our connexions with that country, and rendered the na- 
tive princes, even the mogul himself, subservient to our purposes. 
The English had received great provocation from the subahdar of 
Bengal, in an attack upon Calcutta, and Clive was selected by admiral 
Watson to recover from Sourajud Dowlah the town and fort, which 
had been surrendered to him. At the battle of Plassey, 1 ,757, he 
not only succeeded in the recovery of Calcutta, but in the deposition 
of the subahdar, and having appointed his general in his room, ob- 
tained a grant of all the effects and factories of the French in Bengal, 
Bahar, and Orissa, and money contributions to the immense amount 
of £2,750,000 sterling, exclusive of private gratuities. 

9. It would have been well if these advantages could have been 
acquired with less loss of credit to the nation than was actually the 
case ; but there was too much hi these first steps towards a territorial 
establishment, to feed the ambition and cupidity of those intrnste<l 
with the management of affairs, to render it probable that they would 
keep clear of abuses. The opportunities that occurred of intermed- 
dling with the native powers, were eagerly seized upon as occasions 
for enriching the servants of the company, (drawn from heme in ex- 
pectation of making rapid fortunes,) at the expense of the company 
itself^, whose affairs were in danger, not only of becoming more em- 
barrassed by the extraordinary expenses of such inteiference, but by 
the alienation of the minds of the natives, under circumstances little 
short of the most determined plunder and persecution. In the man- 
agement of the new-acquired territories and inland trade, it is no 
longer to be doubted that the natives suffered in every possible man- 
ner, from the most unreasonable monopolies, exorbitant duties im- 
posed on articles of general consumption, abuses in regard to leases, 
and fiscal oppressions ; so that the British name became dishonoured, 
and it was found to be absolutely expedient that some change should 
take place in the administration of affairs so remote from the seat of 
all rule and direction, and which, from simply commercial, were now 
clearly become political and military. 

10. The charter of the company being subject to periodical re- 
newals, afibrded opportunities for the interference of the legislature, 
nor was the company itself backward, under any pressure of pecu- 
niary embarrassments, to apply to government for assistance. On 
one of these occasions, the great change that had taken place in the 

50 



394 MODERN HISTORY. 

state of things in India, induced the government at home to claim foi 
the crown all revenues arising from any new acquisitions made b> 
military force, and in order to repress the inordinate proceedings of 
the company's servants, of which the natives, tiie public at home, 
and the company itself, had but too much reason to complain, gov- 
ernment also insisted upon taking into its own hands the political 
jurisdiction of India. 

1 1. Tliese claims and regulations were first proposed in parliament, 
November, 1,772, and may be said to have laid ihe foundation tor 
that enlarged system of administration and control which has prevail- 
ed since, though under different moditications, from lord North's bill 
in 1,773 to Mr. Pitt's in 1,784. By tliis latter bill, a board of control, 
composed of certain commissioners of the rank of privy counsellors, 
was established, the members of which were to be appointed by the 
king, and removable at his pleasure. This board was authorized to 
check, superintend, and control the civil and military government 
and revenue of the company ; a high tribunal also, for the trial of 
Indian delinquents, was proposed at the same time. The manage- 
ment of their commercial concerns was left m the hands of the com- 

fiany ; the political and civil authority only transferred to the crown, 
n 1,786, some alterations were made in the bill; the ofhces of com- 
mander-in-chief and governor-general were for the future to be unit- 
ed hi the same person, and a power given to the governor-genera! to 
decide in opposition to the majority of the council. The presidencies 
of Madras and Bombay had been previously, by lord North's bill, 
placed under the superintendency of the governor and council of 
Bengal, but by this bill that point also was confirnjed. 

12. When this bill was passod, it appeared from the preamble, to 
be decidedly the opinion of parliament, of government, as well as of 
the court of directors, whose orcl'^rs had for some time bi'eathed the 
same spirit, that " to pursue schemes of conquest and extension of 
dominion in India, were measures repugnant to the wish, the honour, 
and the policy of the nation." It had previously been resolved by 
the house, " that the maintenance of an inviolable character for 
moderation, good faith, and scrupulous regard to treaty, ought to 
have been tfie simple grounds on which the British government 
should have endeavoured to establish an influence superior to other 
Europeans, over the minds of the n.ciive powers in India ; and that the 
danger aiid discredit arising from liie forititure of this pre-eminence, 
could not be compensated by the temporary success of any pian of 
violence and inj'istice." 

13. Such was the tenor of the resolutions of the house of commons 
in 1,782, recognised as the principle of the bill of 1,784, and farther 
confirmed by an act passed in 1,793. In all we perceive an evident 
allusion to these mal-practices of the company's servants, which will 
for ever, it is to be feared, lemain on record, to tarnish the lustre of 
our first victories and territorial acquisitions in India, and to detract 
from the reputation of persons, whose names mignt otherwise have 
justly stood high on the list of those, from whose pre-eminent talents 
and abilities, the nation has derived both glory and advantage. 

14. The English system of jurisprudence had been extended to 
India by lord North's bill of 1,773, but under disadvantages extreme- 
ly embarrassing. The difference of manners, habits, customs ; the 
difficulty, if not impossibiUty, of mingling two codes, so very dissimi- 
lar as those of Britain and Hindoostan ; the forms and technicalities 
of the English law, totally unknown to the native courts ; the ap 



MODERN HISTORY. 395 

parent injustice of subjecting a people to laws to which they were 
no parties, and to which, of course, they had given no sanction : 
these, and other ditficuUies have been acknowledged by those who 
have had to administer the laws under the new system, in India, 
as having prevented those happy efiects taking place, which might 
otherwise have been expected from the introduction of the English 
jurisprudence. Since the passing of Mr. Pitt''s bill, however, much 
beneht has certainly been derived from the residence and superin- 
tendence of noblemen of the highest rank and abilities, as governors- 
general, and of judges the most enlightened, to preside in the Indian 
courts. The tirst reforms that were ailempted under the new system, 
though not so successful as might be wished, proceeded from those 
two most amiable and highly respected personages, the marquis 
Cornwallis, and sir William J ones. 

15. From the conduct of lord Cornwallis, and his successors lord 
Teignmoutb, and lord Mornington, now marquis Wellesley, it is ex- 
tremely evident that the system of neutrality and forbearance pre- 
scribed by the resolutions of parliament, and preamble of the act of 
1,784, would have been scrupulously adhered to had it been possible, 
consistently with the security of our settlements ; but towards the 
close of the eighteenth century, the English were compelled to de- 
fend themselves from the most formidable designs of the celebrated 
Hyder-Ally and his son Tippoo Saib,/who unquestionably had it in 
-view to exterminate the British, and probably all other Europeans, 
from the peninsula of India. 

16. The result of these conflicts, which took place in Mysore, and 
the Carnatic, was the total overthrow of a Mr.hi;medan dynafty of 
only two sovereigns, commencing with a mere adventurer of most 
singular character, who having waded through crimes to his object, 
succeeded in placing himself and his son on one of the most brilliant 
thrones of the east, and in a condition to give very considerable 
trouble to the English government there. 

17. Hyder Ally, the father of Tippoo, was born in 1,722, and died 
in 1,782. Tippoo was born in 1,753, and lost his life in the celebrat- 
ed assault of the capital of his new dominions, Serin^apatam, in 1,799. 
They were very different men, having been diflerently educated. 
The former had strong natural powers, which compensated for his 
want of acquired knowledge ; the latter was v<)in of his scanty pro- 
ficiency in Persian literature, and a few other attainments, to a degree 
of absurdity ; fancying himself the greatest philosopher of the age, 
the wisest, bravest, and handsomest of men. Hyder was tolerant in 
religious concerns to a degree of inditierence ; Tippoo, a bigoted 
mussulman, to the utmost pitch of intolerance and jjcrsecution. The 
former meddled little with reUgion. The latter contemplated changes 
in Islamism, as in every thing else, having, as a preliminary, substi- 
tuted a new era in his coins, dating from the birth instead of the flight 
of Mahomet. Both father and son were devoid of principle, but the 
former was much the greatest man. 

1 8. It was owing to the vigilance and prompt measures of lord 
Wellesley, that Tippoo was so opportunely overthrown; though his 
proceedings were weak, they were carried on with much duplicity 

• l^nd deceit, and upon principles of alliance which in other circum- 
ifStances might have become very alarming. Under the most positive 
.and repeated assurances of peace and amity, he had intrigued with 
5 France, Turkey, the king of Candahar, (a descendant of the cele- 
. brated Aflghan chief Abdallah,) the Nizam of the Deckan, and the 



396 MODERN HISTORY. 

Mahrattas, for the express object of forming a strong confederacy to 
extirpate the English ; in his negotiations with the courts of Canda- 
har and Constantinople, indeed, he had declared vengeance against 
the intidels generally, whence it has been reasonably concluded that 
his schemes of destruction embraced all the European powers, the 
French not excepted, had his projects but been successful. Fortu- 
nately, lord Wellesley detected all his plots, and when it became 
impossible to treat farther with him on any fair grounds, by the 
most decisive measures, and rapid movements, etfeclnaliy avert- 
ed the blow that had been decidedly aimed at the British empire in 
India. 

19. On the fall of Seringapatam, the Mysorean dominions were, 
by allotments to the allies, the British, the Nizam, and the Mahrattas, 
nearly reduced to the limits by which they were bounded betore the 
usurpation of Hyder, and, a surviving representative of the Mindoo 
dynasty, a child only five years old, placed on the throne, with an 
acknowledged dependency on the British government. The de- 
scendants of Tippoo being, however, liberally provided for, and 
settled in the Carnatic, disturbances in tne northern and north-western 
parts of the peninsula, among the, Mahratta chieftains, occupied the 
attention of the English army, in the early part of tike present cen- 
tury, when a fresh opportunity was allonled of triumphing over (he 
intrigues of the French, who headed the adverse forces, and endeav- 
oured to procure for that government a cession of the districts in- 
trusted to their care ; but the issue of the contest was entirely in 
favour of the British. From this time the ascendancy of the British 
in the peninsula has continued so decidedly established, as to render 
it needless to say any thing of the other European settlements. 

20. The acquisition ot territory in India, togeliier with the new 
system of government and control, by rendering it necessary for per- 
sons of learning and talent to resitle there, have had the eftiect of im- 
proving our knowledge of those remote countries, and opened to us 
a field of inquiry and research, peculiarly interesting and curious. 
Among those who may be considered as having most particularly 
contributed to these ends, we may reckon Mr. Wilkinsand sir Willium 
Jones; the former by having first, with any real success, piirsued the 
study of the Sanscrit language, the root of all the vernacular dialects 
of the peninsula, and thereby open.>d to the contemplation of the 
historian, the antiquarian, the philosopher, and the poet, whatever is 
interesting in the literature of all the nations east of the Indus ; and 
the latter, by instituting the first philosophical society in those parts, 
and inviting the learned, in all quarters of the globe, to propose que- 
ries in every branch of Asiatic history, natural and civil, on the i)hi- 
losophy, mathematics, antiquities, a-id polile literature of Asia, and 
on eastern arts, both hberal and mechanic, as guides to the investiga- 
tions of the persons resident in the peninr^ula. qualified to pursue 
such inquiries on the spot, and communicate to the world in general 
the results of their discoveries. 

21. To this learned society, first established in Bengal, under the* 
presidency of sir William Jones, we are indebted for all those curious " 
papers preserved in the several volumes of the Asiatic Researches i 
and the InJian Annual Register, and which have so largely contrib- 1 
uted to enlarge the boundaries of oriental literature. To the names i 
already mentioned, as having taken the lead in this curious branch of J 
science, we may add those of our countrymen. Halhed, V'ansittart,i" 
bhore, (lord Teignmouth, the second president, on the death of sirj 



. MODERN HISTORY 397 

William, 1,794,) Davie, Colehrook,Wilford,Re?inelK Hunter, Bentley, 
Marsden, Orme, Carey. Buchanan, Barlow, Harrington, Edmonstoiie, 
Kirkpatrick, kc. 

22. At the commencement of the present century, it became ob- 
vious to the marquis of Wollesley, then g'ovemor-nreneral, that tlie 
state of the British empire in India absolutely required, that the per- 
sons sent out todischai^e the important functions of maia^istrates, judges, 
ambassadors, and g:ovemors ot' provinces, should have some better 
means of qualifying themselves for sucn high stations and complicated 
duties, than were then in existence. His lordship's view of these 
matters, as recorded in the minute of council, dated August 10, 1.800, 
is highly deserving of consideration, and his plan for lorming and en- 
dowing a college tl^r these purposes at CalcutLa, reflect the highest 
credit on his wisdom and discernment, though the latter has not been 
carried into execution in the way his lordship proposed, for want of 
funds. The Cast India College, since established in Hertfordshire, 
maj' be considered as entirely owing to the adopti(>n \>y the company 
of the enlightened pTinciple> contained in the minute alluded to. A 
system of oriental education is now etTectually establishrd, which, 
though on a much more contracted scale, and in a great measure con- 
fined to England, bids fair, it is to be hoped, to accomplish most of 
the ends contemplated by his lordship in his original design of founding 
a college at Fort William, in Bengal, nameh', '* to perpetuate the im- 
mense advantages derived to the company from their possessions in 
India, and to establish the British empire in India on the solid founda- 
tions of ability, integrity, virtue, and religion." 

23. Of the studies to be pursued, according to lord Wellcsley's 
plan, a competent notion may be formed from the following list of 
i)rof«,'ssorshif)s and lectures: — Arabic, Persian, Sanscrit, Hindo>tanee, 
Bengal, Telinga, Mahratta, Tamula, and Canara, languages ; Mahom- 
edan law ; Hindoo law ; Ethics, civil jurisjtrudence, and the law of 
nations ; English law ; political economy, commercial institutions and 
interests of the East India Company, geography and mathematics ; 
modern languages of Europe ; Greek, Latin, and English classics : 
general history, ancient and modern ; the historj' and anticjuities of 
Hindoostan and the Deckan ; natural historj' ; botany, chemistjy, and 
astronomy. 

24. Tlifuigh the company saw reason to withhold its countenance 
from the f>riginal institution, the studies above chalked out have been, 
in a great measure, adopted in the Hertfordshire college, and its gen- 
eral success hitherto has been pronounced answerable to th*- expfcta- 
tions of those who were most solicitous in effecting its establishment. 
The education of the young men, destined to fill the civil offices in 
India, is now therefore partly European and partly Asiatic; for so 
much of the collegiate establishment in India may be said to remain, 
that there the students, who have been taught in England the elements 
of Asiatic languages, are enabled to advance to perfection, and to be- 
come masters of the several dialects prevailing through the peninsula. 
Though the original plan of the noble founder of the college of Fort 
AYilliam has not j'et been adopted by the East India Company, yet to 
apply the words of one of tl)e most distinguished of our orientalists, 
" (hyid has been done, which cannot be undone ; sources of useful 
kmnvleilge, moral instruction, and political utility, have been opened 
to the natives of India, which can never be closed." In 1,814, an 
ecclesiastical establishment, under the immediate auspices of govern- 
ment, was formed for India, the right reverend Dr. Thomas Fansha\T 

El 



398 MODERN HISTORY. 

Middleton being consecrated at the archiepiscopal palace, at Lambeth, 
the first bishop ul" Calcutta. 

It must surprise the English reader to be told, that the population 
of the British empire in India has been lately estimated at 90,000,000 ! 



STATE OF ARTS, SCIENCES, RELIGION, LAWS, GOVERN- 
MENT, &c. 

1. The historical events of the eighteenth century have, we must 
confess, been found to be of such magnitude and importance, as to 
occupy rather too lai^e a space in a work professing to be merely 
elementary ; but we should be compelled in a still greater degree to 
exceed the limits assigned to us, if we were to attempt to enter into 
the details of the ver}' extraordinaiy progress that has taken place 
during the same period, in arts, sciences, and literature ; some changes, 
ind<?ed, have occurred, and more been contemplated, in religion, laws, 
and government, but in regard to tlie former, almost ail things have 
become new : we have new arts and new sciences ; and in literature, 
such an overflowing of books upon every subject that could possibly 
occupy or interest the mind of man, that the most diligent compiler of 
catalogues would fail in endeavom-ing barely to enumerate them. 

2. ft is somewhat extraordinary, indeed, that this great and rapid 
advancement of knowledge has after all been confined to only a small 
portion ol the globe. The great continent of Africa, though better 
known than in past times, has made no advances in civilization. Asia, 
though many parts have been diligently explored during the last centu- 
ly, and a large portion of it actually occupied by Europeans, remains, 
as to the natives, in its original state. The vast empire of China has 
made no progress at all. Japan has effectually shut the door against 
all improvement. South America, indeed, tiiough labouring under 
difficulties unfriendly to the progress of knowledge, is yet reported to 
be making no inconsiderable advances, particularly in Mexico, where 
both the arts and sciences are cultivated with credit and effect. In 
North America, also, the arts and sciences and literature may certainly 
be said to be in a progressive state, but under circumstances of latlier 
slow and partial improvement.* 

3. Civilized Europe is the only part of the world that can claim the 
riedit of almost all that has been done towards the advancement of 
knowledge since the commencement of the eighteenth century, and 
only a tew parts after all of civilized Europe itself. Turkey lias stood 
still, as well as her Grecian dependencies, till ver\' lately. Spain, 
Portugal, and even the greater part of Italy, have laboured under dif- 
ficulties and restrictions exceedingly inimical to their advancement, 
and which have greatly arrested their progress in the career of letters 
and philosophy. The north and north-eastern parts of Europe have 
produced many learned men, have been diligently explored, and ma- 
terials at least collected for great improvements ; other parts are also 
upon the advance : but England, France, and Germany, are undoubt- 

[* The writer must be under a mistake. Is it not acknowledged through- 
out Europe, tliat the United States of North America are not only farther 
advanced, but faster advancing, in the discoveries of science, and that 
their progress in literature is more rapid, than any other nation of the new 
•world ?] 



MODERN HISTORY. 3&§ 

edly the principal countries to %vhich ne must look for the most strik- 
ing progress in every branch of human knowledge. In these three 
countries, in particular, discoveries have now certainly been made, and 
principles established, which can never be lost again, and which must, 
as far as they may extend, be constantly operating to the lasting im- 
provement of'^the world at large. 

4. It would be quite unnecessary to go back to the origin, or former 
state, either of the arts or sciences, now known and cultivated in Eu- 
rope. It is pretty generally understood, that, comparatively with the 
nge of the world, they have been only very recently submitted to such 
processes as bid fair to bring them to the highest state of perfection. 
One art has helped another, and new sciences been brought to light, 
that have greatly promoted the advancement of those before under- 
stood and cultivated. Galvanism has assisted electricity ; and gal- 
vanism and electricity together Ijeen exceedingly serviceable to 
chemistry ; chemistiy to mineralog}-, and so iorth : new systems and 
anangements, and new nomenclatures, have contributed greatly to 
render every step that has been taken more accurate and certain, and 
to place every object of attention or inquiiy more exactly in the rank 
and order it should occupy in the general circle of arts and sciences ; 
hut the thing of most importance of all, in regard to the improvements 
that have taken place since the Ijeginning or middle of the eighteenth 
century, is, that every thing has been conducted exactly upon those 
principles, which the great lord Bacon so strongly recommended, and 
has, therefore, been found conducive to all those great ends, the ne^^- 
lect of which, in his own and preceding ages, he so much deplored : 
ever}' thiiig has had a tendency to augment the powers, diminish the 
pains, or increase the happiness of mankind. 

5. Amongst the sciences so cultivated and advanced, since the sev- 
enteenth century, as justly to be regarded as new, we may rank chetn- 
iatry, botany, electricity, galvanism, mineralogy, geology, and in many 
respects, geography : every one of these sciences has been placed on so 
very' ditferent a footing, by the recent manner of treating them, and by 
new discoveries, that it is better, perhaps, at once to consider them as 
new sciences, than to advert to former systems, founded on totally er- 
roneous principles, and which have been, on that account, very rea- 
sonably exploded. 

6. Chemistry, however, even in the course of the period before us, 
has undei-gone veiy essential changes ; it is now not only a very differ- 
ent science from the chemistjy that prevailed antecedent to the eigh- 
teenth century ; but the eighteenth centuiy' itself has witnessed a re- 
markable revolution in its leading principles : some, indeed, of the 
most important changes approach nearer to the nineteenth than the 
seventeenth century, if they do not actually belong to the former ; at 
all events, it was not till towards the close of the eighteenth centuiy 
that chemical experiments had been pushed so far as to displace two 
of the elements of the old philosophy, and totally supersede the pre- 
vailing theory of heat, light, and combustion ; a theory which was 
itself not much more than half a centuiy old. Stahl, the celebrated 
disciple of Becher, born in 1,660, but who lived to 1,734, has the credit 
of being the author of the phlogistic system, which began to be attack- 
ed late in the last centuiy, and seems now to be totally exploded. 
Whether the rival theoiy will ultimately roaintain its ground in all 
points, may, perhaps, appear still doubtful to some : the French claim 
to be the authors of the new theory ; but though the experiments they 
veiy ably conducted were highly conducive to the estaDlishment of it, 



400 MODERN HISTORY. 

the way seems to have been more opened to them by others than they 
are willing to acknowledge, particularly by English observers. The 
phlogistic system was a plausible theory in certain respects, but in 
others totally indefensible ; and, perhaps, a better proof of the utility 
of repeated experiments could not be produced, than that which as- 
certained, that, instead of the extrication of a particular substance by 
combustion, something was undoubtedly added to, or imbibed by, the 
combustible body, in order to the separation of its parts ; that, in fact, 
in the actual process of combustion, affinity product s a double decom- 
position, and that a certain portion of the atmosphere entering into 
union with tiie combustible body produces all those appearances, 
which, under t)ic former system had been attributed to the ex- 
tiication of an unknown principle of inflammability, denominated 
I'hiogiston. 

7. The veiy curious experiments, made to confirm and establish the 
Iritttr system, have been of the greatest impoitance in regard to other 
matters, particularly to that branch of the new chemistry which has 
been denominated ibe pueumatic system. The discoveries in this line 
of experiment, which has the air ior its subject, exceed, perhaps, all 
others in importance and interest : the analysis of the common atmos- 
phere has opened to our view a series of physical operations constant- 
ly going on, the most wonderful and delicate that ca»i possibly be con- 
ceived : the respiration of animals is of this description. The atmos- 
phere is now known to be a most curious compound of two sorts of 
air, or gases, (as they have been named of late,) the one capable of 
supporting life and liame, the other destructive of both : in combus- 
tion, calcination of metals, and respiration, tbe process is the same, — 
a decomposition of the atmosphere : the pure part is imbibed, and the 
impure part left subject to further contamination, by what is given 
out by the combustible, calcining, or respiring bodies during the ope- 
ration ; for, as it was before said, the decomposition in all iastances is 
a double one ; the j)roportion ot the two parts of the atmosphere has 
been ascertained to be in a hundred, twenty-two of pure or vital, and 
seventy-eight of impure or azotic gas. 

8. The discovery of tlie vital air is acknowledged by M. Lavoisier 
to have been common to himself with two oilier eminent chemists, Dr. 
Priestly and the celebrated Scheele, Dr. Priestly discovered it in 
1,774, Scheele in 1,777, M. Lavoisier in 1,775 : the former seems un- 
doubtedly to have the best claim to the discovery. M. Lavoisier, at 
first, called it " higlily respirable air ;" afterwards, as entirely essen- 
tial to the support of life, " vital air:" Dr. Pric'Stly, who lived and 
died an advocate for the phlogistic system, " dephlogisticated air :" 
and Sciieele called it " em[>yreal air." It at last obtained another 
name, from its being supposed to be the cause of acidity, viz. " oxy- 
gen gas." 

9. Who is justly to be accounted the father of the pneumatic chem- 
istry, it would, perhaps, be hazardous to say : Dr. Black of Edinburgh 
has had the credit of being so, froni his experiments on the carbonic 
acid, it has been claimed for Dr. Priestley, Scheele, and M. Lavoi- 
sier : the discoveries in this line certainly constitute a grand era in 
chemistry. The many various kinds of gases that have been now 
discovered ; the very curious experiments made to ascertain their 
properties ; the instruments invented to render such experiments cer- 
tain ; the new compounds that have been detected by their means, 
and their operation and etfects in almost every branch of physics, it 
would far exceed our limits to describe ; but it is impossible not to 



MODERN HISTORY. 401 

notice the extraordinary discovery of the decomposition of watery 
which belongs entirely to pneumatic chemistry. 

10. Till within less than half a century ago, water was esteemed to 
be so certainly an elementary principle, that but few ever dreanied of 
its being otherwise ; and it was almost by accident that it was at last 
found to be a compound. In the course of certain pneumatic experi- 
ments, it was ascertained i)y Mr. Cavendish, that water was produced 
by a combination of two particular gases : both analysis and synthesis 
were resorted to, to render this curious discovery more certain, and it 
was at length ascertained, not only that those two gases were constant- 
ly produced in certain proportions from the decomposition of water, 
but that water was as constantly the result of a judicious mixture of 
those two gases : the gases thus constituting the proper principles of 
water, were the vital and injlammable airs ot the tirst chemical ncjmen- 
clature of modern days, belter kno^\n now by the names of oxygai 
gas and hydrogen gas ; the latter evidently so called lix)m its- im- 
portance, as a constituent base or radical ot water ; we owe the dis- 
cover}' of it to our countrj-n.an, Mr. Cavendish. The proporlinn be- 
tween the two gases in these curious experiments has been ibund to le 
eighty-live of oxygen to filteen of hydrogen ; both oxygen and hydio- 
gen being combustible, their combination tor experimental i»urpo>t- 
is brought about by inflammation, through the means of the ckcli ic 
.spark. 

11. Having given this short account of the leading discoveries In 
pneumatic chemistiy ; discoveries which have opened to us totally 
new views, of certain physical operations of the first importance, and 
greatly extended our knowledge of chemical substances and their prop- 
erties, simple and compound, visible and invisible, coniineable ;ind 
imconfineable : we shall be compelled to be much more brief in uliat 
lurther relates to modern chemistry. 

12. Of late years almost all the substances iri nature have been ex- 
amined ; and probably almost all the combinations of them exhausted : 
row nn'tals to a large amount, new earths, and new acids have been 
discovered ; the fixed alkalis decomposed, and their nature ascertain- 
ed ; the whole range of chemical atfinities and attractions nicely ar- 
ranged and determined, as far as experiment ran reach ; and many 
elastic aeriform fluids brought to light, distinguished from each other 
by their different bases, which were totally unknown befv)re to natural 
philosophers, under the Ibrms in which tlu y are now obtained : and 
which have been thcnight deserving of being formed into :i fourth class 
or kiugdom, amongst the i>roductions of nature : the proper distinction 
of these elastic fluids, or gases, as they have been denominated, (alter 
a term adopted by Vanhelmont. signifying a spirit or incocreibie 
vapour,) being that of some base, saturated with the cause of heat or 
expansion, called in the new nomenclature caloric; by means of some 
of these gases, so combined with caloric, a power has been obtained 
of fusing the most refractory substances in nature. 

13. To render the nice and delicate experiments necessary in this 
new branch of chemical science more accurate, numerous instruments 
liave been invented, of vciy curious construction ; such as the eudiom- 
eter, to measure the purity of any given portion of air ; the gazoinetcr, 
to measure the quantities, &.c. of gases ; the calorimeter, lor measures 
of heat ; to which we may add various descriptions of thermometers 
and jpyrameJers, particularly the differential thermometer, invented by 
Mr. Leslie, of Edinburgh, and its accompaniments ; the jryroscojie^ 
or measure of radiant heat ; the nhotometev, to ascertain the intensity 

LI 2 ' 51 



402 MODERN HISTORY. 

of light ; veiy curious and delicate balances, some that are said to he 
capable of ascertaining a weight down to the seven millionth part, 
deserve to be mentioned, as extraordinar}' instances of skilful work- 
manship ; many ditferent sorts of hygrometers also have been con- 
structed, particularly one by the same ingenious experimentalist 
already mentioned, Mr. Leslie, calculated to render more correct the 
examination of all processes dependant upon evaporation ; hut it 
would be endless to attempt to describe the many instruments and con- 
trivances rendered necessary by the extreme delicacy and minuteness 
of modern chemical and pneumato-cheraical experiments ; it is suth- 
cient to state, in a history of the progress of arts and sciences, that, 
in all instances, invention appears to have kept pace with experiment; 
and that the world has been almost as much enriched by the m-w-in- 
vented means of discovery, as by the discoveries to which they have 
conduced ; while the skill and judgment requisite to coiisUuct the 
expensive and complicated instruments indispensably necessaiy lor 
ascertaining the analysis and synthesis of bodies, with such exquisite 
precision, as to quantity and proportion, have conspired greatly to 
advance the several arts connected with such macliinery, as well as to 
quicken the intelligence and ingenuity of the artists themselves ; iit 
this line, perhaps, nobody has acquired greater celebrity than the late 
Mr. Kainsden, the maker of the balance of the Royal Society, whose 
extraordinary powers have been alluded to abo\e. 

14. Among those who have principally distinguished themselves in 
the improvement and advancement of chemical science, since the 
commencc;jnent of the eighteenth century, we may justly mention the 
names ol Stahl, Fourcroy, Macquer, Lavoisier, Guytonmoneau, 
Jierthollet, Klaproth, Vauquelin, Chaptal, Gay-Lussac, Kirwan, Ten- 
nant, Wollaston, Priestley, Cavendish, Black, Irwine, Crawfoid, 
Leslie, Hall, Thompson, brande, and Davy. To the last of whom» 
our iihistrious countrj'uian, we stand indebted for some of the most 
remarkable discoveries, and most laborious analyses of compcHuui 
substances, which have taken place under the new system ; nor iias 
he been deficient in applying his scientitic attainments to practical 
purposes, in his elements of chemical agriculture, and above all, the 
safety-lump, whereby lie may possibly, in combating the fatal effects 
ol the lire damp in coal mines, have contributed to pieserve the lives 
of thousands and tliousands of his fellow creatures ; this discovery 
was the fruit of many most laborious, dilhcult, and even dangerous ex- 
periments. 

15. When we consider the many uses of chemistry, and the im- 
mense advantages to be derived from eveiy i»nprovement of it in a 
variety of manufactures, in medicine, in metallurgy, in the arts of 
dying, painting, brewing, distilling, tanning, making glass, enamels, 
porcelain, and many others, we may easily conceive that the progress 
and advancement of this one brancn <>i science alone, during the last 
and present centurj', must have contributed largely to the improve- 
ment of man}' things, on which all the comforts and conveniences, the 
happiness, the security, the well-being, the prosperity, and even tlic 
lives of men, depend. 



BOTAxXY. 

1. BoT^Ny is another of the sciences, which, from the changes 
it has undergone, and the great progress it has made since the 



MODERN HISTORY. 405 

commencement of the eighteenth century, may justly be regarded as 
new. 

2. Already were the names of Ray, Rivinus, and Touniefort, well 
known to the lovers of this interesting study, Ibrming as it were a new 
era in the histoiy of botany, and imparting a lustre to the close of the 
seventeenth century, for which it will ever be memorable. Their at- 
tempts at arrangement may be justly considered as the commencement 
of a career which was destined to acquire its full degree of develope- 
ment during the eighteenth centur}-, under the happy auspices of the 
most celebrated botanist the world ever saw ; the great and illustrious 
Linna-us. 

3. This extraordinary man was bom at Rashult^ in the province of 
Smaland, in Sweden, on the 24th of May, 1,707, and before lie was 
twenty-one years of age, had made himself so thoroughly acquainted 
with the study of plants, as well as with the merits and defects of his 
predecessors in that line, as to conceive the idea of remodelling the 
whole fabric of systematic botany, and of placing it on a new founda- 
tion, namely, the sexvolity of vegetal)les. This bold and enterprising 
undertaking he not only pr()jected, but accomplished with a rapidity 
and success that excited the wonder and astonishment both of his 
Iriends and enemies. 

4. His first work was published in 1,730, being a brief exposition of 
the new principle on which his system was to be founded ; and the 
method may be said to have been completed in 1,7:57, when he puh- 
lished his Genera Flantarvm, which contained a description and ar- 
rangement of nearly one thousand genera, comprising upwards of 
eight thousand speciesi and constituting what has been shice known by 
the name of the sexual system. 

5. At first it was either opposed as a fanciful innovation, or received 
with doubt and distrust ; but its fame soon began to spread, and to 
bear down betbre it all opposition, till it ultimately met with the 
almost universal reception of botanists in every countiy in Europe. 

6. In 1,742, Linnseus was chosen professor of botany at Upsal, and 
in 1,753 he published his Species Plunturmn. His authority was no\T 
supreme, and the impulse he communicated to the study of vegetables 
unprecedented in the annals of botany ; hence the various voyages 
that were undertaken by his immediate disciples, Kalm, La[i!in£:, 
Hasselquist, and others, or which have been since undertake?) I)y their 
successors, aided hy the munificence of princes, or the zeal of private 
individuals, as well as the various societies that were sooner or later 
instituted, with a view to the advancement of botanical knowledge ; 
amongst which the Linna^an society of London, founded in 1,788, stands 
pre-eminent, under the presidency of sir James Edward Smith, one 
of the most distinguished of the Ibllowers of Linnaeus, and the pos- 
sessor of his herbarium, librar)', and manuscripts. 

7. The acquisitions thus made to the mass of botanical knowledge, 
are altogether astonishing. Rotanists are now said to be acquainted 
with upwards of tbrty thousand species of plants ; and still there are 
regions of the earth unexplored, and (lowers without a name, (*' et sunt 
sine nomine Jlorcs.''') 

n. We cannot, however, refiise to acknowledge that botany has also 
derived the most important advantages fronj such cultivators of tlie 
science as cannot be ranked amongst the disciples of Linnaeus, though 
they have equally ccjutributed to the advancement of the knowledge of 
plants, at least in the department of the study of their natural affini- 
ties ; tlie grand and ultimate end of botany, which Linna:us himselt 



404 MODERN HISTORY. 

knew well how to appreciate, and even to improve, as may be seen in 
his prelections published by Giseke, and in his Fragments of a Natu- 
ral Method. But it was left for the illustrious Jussieu, the most ac- 
complished botanist of the present age, to give to that method the 
comparative perfection which it has actually obtained, and to erect 
the noble superstructure of his Genera Plantarum ; a work exhibiting 
the most philosophical arrangement of plants, as well as the most 
complete view of their natural affinities, that was ever presented to 
the contemplation of man. 

9. This work was pulilished at Paris in 1,789, and the natural 
metliod of Jussieu, which may be regarded as having at all times 
stood in opposition to the artificial method of Linnaeus, seems now to 
be advancing to a more direct rivalship than ever. Even in the 
works of such botanists as profess to be the disciples of Linnaeus, there 
seems to be a leaning to the method of Jussieu ; but whether the 
natural method of the latter will be suffered ultimately to prevail, or 
the artificial method of the former, time only can show. 

10. Great, however, as the progress of systematic botany has un- 
doubtedly been, during the course of the last and beginning of the 

f)resent century, the progress of physiological botany has perhaps 
)een still greater. In proof of this, it will be sufficient to mention the 
names of Hales, Bonnet, Du Hamel, Hedwig, Spallanzani, Gaertner, 
Knight, Keith, and Mirbel ; each of whom has distinguislied himself 
in the field of phytological investigation, and eminently contributed to 
the advancement of the science. Above all, we must not fail to men- 
tion the name of Priestk^y, as being the first who introduced into the 
study of pliytology the aid of pneumatic chemistry, which, under the 
happy auspices of Ingenhouz, Senebier, Saussure, Ellis, and Davy, 
and lastl}' of Gay-Lussac and Kenard, has done more to elucidate the 
phenomena of vegetation, than all other means of investigation, and 
has t'urnished as the foundation of the physiology of plants a body of 
the most curious and undoubted facts. 

11. Before we dismiss this part of our subject, it is not unfitthat we 
should notice the extraordinary progress that has been made at the 
same time in distinct branches of the science, as well as in the appli- 
cation of the arts of drawing, engraving, and colouring, for the pur- 
poses of illustration, and for exhibiting to the eye, at all times, in all 
places, and at all seasons, the beautiful and interesting productions of 
the vegetable kingdom, in such perfection, as, in some degree, to su- 
persede the necessity of living specimens ; sometimes so rare and in- 
accessible as to be out of the reach of the most scientific. There is 
no branch of knowledge which has furnished more splendid and elabo- 
rate works of this nature, than that of botany, or in which the arts have 
been carried to a grt:ater degree of perfection and delicacy ; and as a 
study so elegant and agreeaole cannot well be rendered too general, 
it is pleasing to observe, that through the improvements that have thus 
taken place, and the facilities afforded to such publications, not a 
month passes in this kingdom without large additions being made to 
the general stock of botanical knowledge, in works of singular beauty 
and correctness ; though far from costly, considering the pains bestow- 
ed upon them. 

12. The lovers of botany stand greatly indebted also, to those 
learned persons who have made it their particular business to collect, 
examine, and describe the plants of countries and districts, and to 
supply them with distinct Ftorce, both foreign and domestic, as the 
Flora Britannica of Smith, the Flora Anglica of Hudson, the Flora 



MODERN HISTORY. 405 

Scotica of Lightfoot, the Flora Cantabrigiensis of Relhan, the Flora 
Oxoniensis of Sibthorpe, the Flora Londinensis of Curtis, the Flora 
Graeca, the Flora Peruviana, the Flora Danica, the Flore Francoise, 
and others much too numerous to mention ; in the same class may be 
reckoned those works which are still further confined to the descrip- 
tion or illustration of particular genera of plants, as in our own country, 
the Carices, by Goodenough ; the Grasses, by Stillingfleet ; the 
ftlcnthas Britannicaj, by Sole ; the Pines, by Lambert ; the Fuci, by 
Turner ; and various others. 



ELECTRICITY. 

1. Though the property of excitation exi'^ting in amher, (elekiron,) 
appears to have been known to Thales six hundred, and to Theophras- 
tus three hundred years before Chri.st, yet electridtii (which takes its 
name from this circumstance) and galvanisin, as it is still called, may 
decidedly be regarded as sciences which have sprung up during the 
period to which our present inquiries belong. It was not, indeed, till 
towards the middle of the eighteenth century that experiments in 
electricity were pursued with any degree of ardour, success, or ad- 
vantage. Mr. Hawksbee wrote learnedly upon the subject in 1,709, 
but it was not till twenty years alterwards that Mr. Grey and M. du 
Faye at Paris; engaged in some experiments which contributed to 
throw light upon the sulrject. Mr. Grey, who resumed his experi- 
ments in 1,734, saw enough to lead him to suppose that the electric 
fluid and lightning were the same, which was not, however, effectually 
proved till the year 1,752, when the celebrated Dr. Franklin, of 
America, with great ingenuity, and no small degree of courage, ascer- 
tained the fact by decisive experiments ; a discovery which he soon 
applied to practical purposes, by the invention of metallic conductors 
for the security of buildings, ships, &.C., during storms. 

2. As experiments coulfi not be profitably undertaken till a suitable 
apparatus was provided, it is equally evident, that the ijnprovement 
of such apparatus must greatly have depended on the progress of the 
science. The Lej^den phial for the accumulation of the electrical 
power in glass, was invented about 1,745, and the general apparatus 
gradually improved by Van Marum, Cuna^us, Dr. Nooth, Mr. Nainie, 
Dr. Priestley, Messrs. Read. Lane, and Adams. To professor Volta, 
of Como, we stand indebted for two very useful and important electri- 
cal instruments, the electrophorus, and condenser of electricity. Many 
sorts of electrometers for measuring the quantity and quality of elec- 
tricity in an electrified body, have also been invented. 

3. In 1,747 electricity began to be used for medical purposes, and 
was supposed to be of efficacy in cases of rheumatism, deafness, palsy, 
scrofula, cancers, abscesses, gout, &c. ; but the progress of medical 
electricity has not been great, while the want of an apparatus, and the 
knowledge and skill requisite to apply it properly, must always pre- 
vent its becoming any very common remedy. 

4. Galvanism, which may be said to have been engrafted on elec- 
tricity in 1,791, was the discoveiy of the celebrated; Galvani of 
Bologna ; it has been called animal electricity ; his first experiments 
having been made on animals, and tending manifestly to prove the 
identity of the nervous and electric fluids, though this was for some 
time doubted. M. Galvani discovered that, without any artificial 
electricity, and by merely presenting some conducting substance to 



406 MODERN HISTORY. 

different parts of the nerves or muscles of a dissected frog, violent 
motions were produced, exactly similar to those which were excited 
by a discharge of the electrical machine. 

5. The discovery of M. Galvaiii has since led to very important 
t> nds, through the g^reat care and attention of M. Volta, who, improv- 
ing upon his discover}' of the power of conductors, has been enabled 
to supply the philosophical world with an instrument of very extraor- 
dinary powers, especially for purposes of chemical decomposition. 
At first M. Volta was led to suppose that it required only a set of dif- 
ferent conductors, two metals and a fluid, to collect and distribute the 
electrical matter ; he considered that, upon these principles, he had 
produced an artificial imitation of the electrical powers exhibited by 
the torpedo, the gymnotus, silunis, and tetrodon electricus ; but further 
discoveries demonstrated that there Avas a chemical agency gtting for- 
ward all the time, and that much depended on the action of the fluids 
on the metals, which are all naturally excellent conductors, but become 
non-conductors when oxydated, some being more easily oxydated than 
others. The voltaic pile is a simple galvanic combination ; a series 
of them forms a batteiy. The most perfect galvanic combination is 
held to consist in such an arrangement of metals, exposed to the action 
of an oxydating fluid, as are liable to very difierent changes ; the 
greatest and the least. In every simple galvanic combination, water 
is decomposed, the oxygen entering into union witli the metal, and the 
hydrogen being evolved. 

6. Since this discovery, many have engaged in electro-chemical re- 
searches, of the utmost importance, particularly our own countryman, 
sir Humphrey Davy, His experiments on the alkalis and earths, and 
discovery oi their metallic nature, being in themselves suflicient to 
show how A\ ide a range of inquiry is opened to the experimentalist, 
by this powerful agent ; it being reasonable to suppose, that there is 
scarcely any substance in nature, either above or below the surface of 
the earth, that is not subject, mone or less, to the chemical agencies 
ot electricity. Heretofore the observations of the philosopher were 
chiefly, if not entirely, confined to those sudden and violent changes 
which take place through any po^verful concentration o( the electric 
fluid. These new discoveries seem to aflbrd him a fair chance and 
opportunity of tracing some at least of those manifold changes which 
may be brought about in a more quiet, tranquil, and insensible man- 
ner ; and which,, in all probability, are incessantly operating effects, 
hitherto little known and little suspected. It is obvious that medicine, 
chemistiy, physiology, mineralogj', and geology, may all be greatly 
assisted by a more perfect knowledge of such curious and hitherto 
hidden processes of nature. Before the galvanic method of exciting 
electricity had been discovered, many very curious experiments had 
been made, to prove the influence of electricity on the atmosphere, 
magnetism, vegetation, muscular motion ; in earthquakes, volcanoes, 
and other natural appearances and operations ; all of which are likely 
to become better known, and lurth.er illustrated, by the application of 
the electro-chemical apparatus, which, since its first invention, has been 
already greatly improved. It may not be amiss to observe, that meteo- 
rology, as a particular branch of knowledge, has been greatly aided 
by all the improvements spoken of above in chemistry and electricity, 
and in the invention of many instruments, very simple, but chiefly to 
be referred to the eighteenth centuiy ; as the barometer, the thermom- 
eter, the hydrometer, the pluviameter, or rain-gauge, the anemometer, 
find electrometer already mentioned. Amongst the most eminent of 



MODERN HISTORY. 407 

those who have applied themselves to this study, we may reckon. 
Messrs. Bouguer, Saussure, De Luc, Gay-Lussac, Van-Maruni, Fer- 
guson, Cavallo, inc. ; Drs. Franklin, Blagden. and Priestley ; Messrs. 
Canton and Beccaria. 



MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY. 

1. Mineralogy and geology are reasunably to be regarded as new 
sciences since theclose of tlic seventeenth century, having been cul- 
tivated from that time in a manner total!}' new, and greatly advanced 
by the progress made in other sciences, and the improvement of many 
arts. They are both, however, still so much in their infancy, that a 
veiy brief account of >vhat has taken place during the last and present 
century is the utmost that we can attempt. 

2. It was not till towards the middle of the last centurj-, that the 
modern scientific arrangements of minerals began to occupy the atten- 
tion of naturalists. That indefatigable observer, Linntvus. did not 
overlook this branch of natural historj', but introduced into the twelfth 
edition of his " Systema Naturas," published in 1,768, a systematic 
view of " The Kegnum Lapideum," which he divided into three 
classes, petrip, minene, ^r\d Jossilicp^ many orders, and fifty-four gene- 
ra. In 1,793, Gmelin republished the "Systema Naturae" ol Lin- 
nseus, with alterations and improvements. 

3. Linnaeus did not take the lead in such arrangements : in his own 
work he notices the preceding s>\stems of Bromelius, who published 
in 1,730 ; Wallerius, in 1,747 ; VVoltersdorf, in 1,748 ; Curtneuser, in 
1,775 ; Justi, in 1,757 : Cronstedt, in 1,758 ; and Vogel, in 1,762. 
LinncEus, however, has the credit of having first reduced the science 
of mineralogy into classes and orders, and Wallerius and himself un- 
dertook the arduous and hazardous task of fixing the specific characters 
of minerals. VVallorius's second system appeared in 1 ,772. In 1 ,781 , 
Veltheim published his system at Brunswick, and in 1,782, Berga- 
man's made its first appearance at Leipsic. 

4. Before this time the celebrated Werner, professor of mineralogy 
at Freyburg, in Saxony, had published a treatise on the classification 
of minerals, according to their external characters, which was more 
fully illustrated in his notes to a translation of Cronstedt, which ap- 
peared in 1,780. Werner has obtained a name amongst mineralogists 
and geologists, which stands deservedly high ; though he seems only 
to have prepared the way for the obscnations and experiments of 
others, by an accumulation and description of facts and appearances, 
extremely curious and valuable. The fundamental principle inW'er- 
ner's mineralogical arrangement, is the natural affinity of fossils, of 
which he enuilicrates three kinds : the chemical, the oryctognostical, 
and the geognostic. Mr. Kir^vin first introduced the Wernerian sys- 
tem into Britain, in his treatise on mineralogy, 1,784. 

5. In 1,773, the study of the regular or crystalline fonns of minerals 
seemed to give a new turn to mineraloo;}'. The first work of eminence 
in this line was the Crystallographie of the celebrated Rome de 1' Isle, 
which was made the basis of the system of Hauy, published in 1,801. 
All mineral bodies are supposed by this system to be reducible by 
mechanical division to an integrant molecule. From the form and 
component parts, it has been proposed to deduce the specific charac- 
ters. The forms of the integrant molecule are found to be three ; the 
tetrahedron, the triangular prism, and the parallelapiped. Much 



408 MODERN HISTORY. 

n soSiTremarkable instances with much ellcct, more direct means of 
distruisS- minerals could scarcely be devised : bu as thmg:s stand 
a prfsent, tlere seems to be too much geome Uy and chjmjs^y ne- 
cessary to render such a system generally useful. In 1,808, however, 
M Svenix, in the Annales de Chymie, gave great support to the 
^"stem of Hauy, to the disparagement of that oi Werner, to whom 
uevSeless, he is careful to give due praise. Crj'stall.zat.on >v,l^ 
lono- remain probably, a subject of most curious research and inquiiy 
amSng geologists as well as mineralogists; the appearances of it in 
primitive rocks, leading immediately to the grand question concerning 
the operations of fire and water, which have divided the cultivators ol 
this branch of study into the two parties of PhUo,mts, who contend lor 
the i-neoiis origin of those rocks, and the jVeptvnists, who reter them to 
an aqueous origin ; of the latter of which, was the celebrated \V erner. 
6. Many other systems, more or less connected with \\ erner .«, have 
been made public, as Brochart's, SchmeisseiV, 1,795 ; Babiiiglon s, 
1,796 ; Brogniart's, (a very useful and valuable one,) Kidd s, 1^809 ; 
Clarke's, 1,811 ; one by Mr. Arthur Aikin ; and, lastly, that of Ber- 
zelius, a Swedish chemist, who has lately attempted to establish a 
pure scientific system of mineralogy, by the application of the electro- 
chemical theory and the chemical proportions : as this system is 
closely connected with the latest discoveries and improvements that 
have been made in chemistry and electricity, we shall here close our 
remarks on mineralog}-, as a science by no means perfected, but open 
to further experiments and observations, though verj' materially ad- 
vanced since the close of the seventeenth centuiy. 

7. Geology has arisen out of mineralogy- ; and though no new 
science as to name, is entirely so according to the principles upon 
which it is now conducted. Werner was for giving a nezi' name at 
once to the new science, which was a judicious step to take, though it 
iias not been generally adopted ; he called it Geognosie : it is fit, in- 
deed, that it should be distinguished from the geology of old. which 
only engendered a parcel of laiiciful theories of the earth, unfounded 
on facts. How the globe was formed, is a very different inquiry from 
that of " what has happened to it since it was Ibrmed :" modern 
geology is chieHy conversant with the latter ;(' to examine the interif)r 
of the earth, as far as it can hi', examined, in order to understand the 
course of the revolutions and changes that have taken place, and of 
which we perceive the most manifest proofs ;) already very extraordi- 
nary circumstances have been discovered^ indicative of successive 
changes, both before and after any organic Ijeings existed, and there- 
fore both before as well as after the globe became strictly habitable ; 
among the most curious effects plainly to be traced, may be reckoned 
the extensive operations of fire and water, the extinction of many 
species of vegetables and animals, and the very extraordinaiy preser- 
vation of some of the latter, bespeaking a state of congelation, at the 
moment of the catastrophe by which they appear to have been over- 
whelmed ; remains of animals in places where they no longer exist, 
and the extraordinary absence of human reliquiae. The science of 
comparative anatomy has been of great use in these researches, in 
■ivhich nobody has distinguished himself so muc'n as M. Cuvier, secre- 
taiy oi the I rench Institute. 



MODERN HISTORY. 409 

8. Many geological societies are forming, or have been already 
formed, in difterent parts of Europe and in America, and profe-isor- 
ships founded in our universities ; but it will be long, perhaps, before 
the several observations and discoveries making in all parts of the 
world, can be so comi)ared, classed, and methodized, as to bring out 
such results as may be admitted for certain and indisputable truths, in 
regard to tiie hisloiy of the earth and of man. In the mean while, we 
slujuld consider that geologists have always a field to wc>rk in, abound- 
ing in materials so applical)le to every useful art as to promise con- 
tinual accessions of knowledge, not merely scientific, but of real 
practical utility. 

We ought not, perhaps, to dismiss this part of our subject, wilhout 
noticing the very curious geological map of England, ]niblished by 
our countryman, Mr. Smith, in l,til5, a work of great merit and 
originality. 

GEOGKArHY. 

1. We hare mentioned geography, also, as among tho^e sciences 
which may be regarded as almost new, not only because it is since the 
middle of the last century that we have acquired a more correct knowl- 
edge of the figure of the earth, but t'rom the extraordinarj- manner in 
which the whole terraqueous globe has been explored of late, and the 
additions consequently made to our former knowledge of its parts: 
the discoveries that h:ive taken place since the close of the seventeenth 
centuiy, have, according to the French treographers, presented to us 
two new (juarters of the world, and which have been denominated 
Jlvstralasia and Polynesia. The following account may serve to ex- 
plain these adilitions to modern geogntphy : 

2. The fomier is held to contain, 1. New Holland, and all tlie 
islands between twenty degrees west, and between twenty and thirty 
degrees east of it. 2. New Guinea and the islands adjacent. 3. New 
Britain, N('W Ireland, and the Solomon Isles. 4. New Caledonia and 
t!ie New Hebrides. 5. New Z«'aland. 6. Van Dieman's Land, whi( h 
is separated fiom New Holland by Basse's strait or channel, and is 
about thirty le;igues wide. 

3. 'J'he division callecl Polynesia, consists of, 1. The Pelew Isbnds. 
2. The Ladrone or Marian Islands. 3. The Carolines. 4. The 
Sanilwich Islands. 5. The Marquesas, which are very numerous, 
fi. The Society Islands, about sixty or seventy in number. 7. The 
Friendly Islands. 8, The Navigators' Islands. The laigest island 
in this (iivision is Owhybee, one of the Sandwich Islands, and the 
place where the celebrated circumnavigator. Cook, lost his life. 

4. The voyages and travels conducive to these discoveries are too 
generally known to be much dwelt upon in such a work as the present. 
It will be surticient merely to mention the names of those who, since 
the years l,7J5 and 1,736, (when the Spanish and French mathemati- 
cians undertook their celebrated missions to measure a degree of the 
meridian under the pole and at the equator,) have been employed by. 
the different powers of Europe on voyages of discovery. 

5. Of the English we may enumerate : 

Byron, 1,764 — 1,766. Mr. Harrison's time-piece applied to tlie 
discovery of the longitude. 

Wallis and Carteret, 1,766. Sailed together, but soon separated; 
Otaheite and other islands discovered. 

M m 52 



410 MODERN HISTORY. 

Cook, three voyages :— . r xr u j . 

First voyage, 1,768—1,771. The transit of V^enus observed at 
Matavai, in Otaheite, June, 1,769. New Holland, and New Zealand 
explored. . 

Second voyage, 1,772—1,775, in search ol a southern continent. 

Third voyage, 1,776—1,780, to db^cover a northern passage ; fatal 
to captain Cook, who was killed at Owhyhee. , ,. , . r 

Portloch and Dixon, 1,785—1,788 ; principally to establish the lur 
trade, at Nootka Sound. 

Vancouver, 1,790—1,795, to explore the northern passage. L nsuc- 
ces?ful. 

Phipps, (lord Mulgrave.) north pole, 1,773. 

Lord Macartney, China, 1,792. 

Lord Amherst, ditto. 1,816, 1,817. 

Of the French we may reckon, 

Bougainville, 1,766—1,768. 

La Ptyrouse, 1,785 — 1,788, supposed to have perished. 

D'EnUicasteux, in search of La Feyrouse. 

Marchand, 1,790— 1,792. 

The Spaniards appear to have employed Malaspina, an ItaUtn, 
1,790, to explore distant seas and countries; but his voyage was not 
published. These were all of them voyiigcs, not merr ly devoted to 
geographical discoveries, but in which competent pervons, in almost 
every branch of science, were concerned, to take account of whatever 
should olTer itself to their notice, or be likely to contribute, in any 
manner whatsoever, to the general advancement of human knowledge ; 
astrononi)-, botany, zoolog)% meteoroh^, physiology-, mineral*^, 
and geology. Trade and commerce, naviu^alion and the arts, were 
constantly in the way of receiving illustration or improvement, during 
these bold attempts to advance the geogi-aphy of the world, and solve 
the difficulties which still seemed to hang about thai intere^ting and 
important science. The names of Banks, Solandc r. Gieen, Sparrman, 
Forster, and Anderson, will descend to the remotest posterity, with 
that of Couk. 

6. War often, indeed, interrupted the^e pursuits, but the eighteenth 
century has the credit of affording the following ^tI•ong marks of the 
progress of civilization and liberal ideas. It was during a continental 
war, that^a combination of learned and scientific persons, Fn{flisli, 
French, Russians, Danes, and Swedes, in the year 1 ,761, laying aside 
their animosities, undertook the arduous task of observing, for astro- 
nomical and geographical purposes, a transit of V«:nus over the suiO 
It was in tlie midst of war, that France, in a very public and fomlSl 
manner, suspended all hostilities that could in anv manner affect the 
progress or safe return of our English navigator. Cook : and both the 
French and English, in the course of their voyages of discovery, are 
known to have evinced a spirit of philaiithropy^and humanity very 
opposite to what had passed on such occasions "in former ages. The 
improvement of every barbarous and savage people they might visit, 
was among the first thoughts of tho.«e who wera engaged in these new 
adventures Some remarkable directions to this effect, given by 
Louis XVI. himself to La Peyrouse, will for ever dr) honour to the 
loemory o( that benign but ill-fated monarch. The English circum- 
navigators were not less attentive to these things, but continually soiiglit 
the amelioration of the savage condition of the people they visited; 
too otten, however, quite in vain, or without any lasting effect. 

/. It would be utterly out of our power to enter into any details of 



MODERN HISTORY. 4U 

the numerous rewarchcs that have been made in all parts of the p:lobe, 
f-ince the spirit oi" discovery was fir*t excited, wliich has >o remarkably 
distinguished the period of wliich we are treating. In the north and 
south, east an<l wt!-t, ol botli hf-mi^phei-e!-. almost every region has 
been explored, and every inlbmiation «)l)tained that can throw lieht on 
the history either of the earth or of nian. The two peninsulas of 
India, Persia, Arabia, i-^gypt, aikl Abys»iuia, the northern and the 
southern, and, in some instance^, the interior parts of Africa ; Syria, 
Greece, and Turkey ; Norway, Lapland, Siberia, and even the wilds 
of Tartaiy and Kamschatka ; New Spain ; the back settlements of 
North America, and North America itself ; lcelan<l, Greenland, iic, 
have all been visited bj* persons of science and leamieig, and are alm<i^ 
as >\ell known now, a^ the most frequented and civilized parts of Ku- 
ropc ; all that can l>e ascertained of their hisloiy ; all that the le- 
mains of antiquity could unfold to the eye of curiosity ; all the animals, 
plants, minerab, tln-y prcHluc*' ; have been s«j amply examined, dr- 
>>cril)ed, classed, and methodi/.ed, that it may reasonably be supposed, 
that in vcrj" many instances, all that can be known ii. known. Among 
tlie travels enun)erated, the >cholar, in particular, has been in no or- 
^^xy degree gnitirted by the visits that ha\e been recently pai(^ '■■ 
modern Ciivece, and by the able, classical, and scientific d«'>rripfiii 
\\hicl» have been giMii of that vi-ry interesting p<irtif.n of tin- «iiiii, 
neiit, by lord Byron, Mr. Hobl)ou>»e, major Leake, Dr. Holland, sir 
Willuiiii Urununond, Dr. Clark, lord Aberdet-n, sir Willi.nn Ciell. and 
others of our own countrymen ; and by M. F<iuqueville, who haxiiig 
at conqjanied BuoiKiparte to Egjpt, at the close of the last century, 
\\ i-i among the lirst to explore thost; celebrated n-gions. 

);. 'Jhe iMfVv means of nKpiir}' and investigation, have so kept pace 
with llie wide li«-ld Lilely t<pened to the world, that even individuals 
ha\e been tbuml competent tt) bring home with them from the nK>st 
remote countries, ample information uixin all the great points that can 
possibly interest the curiosity of man ; a greater instance of this, could 
iiot, p<rha|n», be produced, than in the c;ise of a li\ing traveller and 
author, the ceU bnited M. HunilK)ldt, of Prussia, whose multdarious. 
reM-arches, at a \ery early a^r, in almost all parts of the globe, have 
addi-d moit' to the geiM-ral slock of knowledge in the compass of a very 
U-w yt'ars, than could have bren attaiiu'(l by ages of in(juiry in tiuu-s 
at all distant. In speaking of this vrry celebrated traveller, whose 
accounts of Spanish America in particular have lately excited so nuicii 
attention, it is fit also to imtice the removal of many restraints and iir- 
pednnents in the way of such researches, througn the morn liberal 
iKjIicy of the mother countiy ; so tar Irom expressing, as would h:»\c 
been the case in Ibrmer times, any jealousy of such a visit t»» her colo- 
nies, M. Huml)oldt obtained the e.xjtress approbation and concurn^nce 
of the Spanish court. The removal of tlie court of Portugal to tli«> 
lira/ils in tjje year 1,007, has 'also proved favourable in no small de- 
gr<-e t<» the piiisticution of such inquiries ; the king having, with con- 
bideraljle liberality, patmnised sucn undeilakings. 

9. The soven:igns of Russia, from the time of Peter the giraf, 
through a natural desire of acquiring: a correct knowledge ol their veiy 
extended dominions, buried, at the close of the seventeentU century, 
in pmtound iijiiorance and obscmity, were canlul to employ proper 
pers«')ns to make siici> disct)veries, who sc) ably discharged llieir com- 
missions, that bet'ore the end of tin- eiuhteenth centur)-, a very cele- 
brated Cierman piofessor declared that tliey had amassed such a <|iian- 
tity of maVeriaU, entirely new, for the history of the three kingdouMi 



412 MODERxN HISTORY. 

of nature, for the tbeorj' of tlie earth, ft)r njral economy, and for an 
infinity of other objects relative to the arts and sciences, as would em- 
ploy many learned men for several years, in their proper arrane«inent 
and classification. The names of Beering: and Span^-herg, Pallas, 
Gmeliji, Muller, Chappe D'Auteroche, Oeonri, Lepechin, ait- w.ll 
known, as among those who have most distmguishrd thenisi-lv^ m 
these northern and north-eastern expeditions, Amoiifj the improve- 
ments connected with the science of geography, ami it«^ pn-erress, we 
should be glad if we could do justice to tht^eiy learnt-d and eminent 
persons who have, in a manner unknown bt lure, d«vott d their time to 
the more correct delineation of the face of the globe, in the construc- 
tion of maps and charts, which seem tu bi' advancing rapiilly to the 
highest degree of perfection. 31. d'Anville, wlu»e laboun? in this 
way are so well known, may be justly considered perhaps as having 
given the first stimulus in tbi$ line of study, to the geographers of 
modern times. 

10. As the science of astronomy is in many instances connected with 
geography, we may here notice thu changes that have taken place in 
regard to the former, during the last and itri.-ent centuries ; which, 
however, being only in the way of add.tion upon the establi^hed prin- 
ciples of the Copernican and Newtonian systems, ar«' not such a> can 
bf said to have altered the character of the sci«nce itsell ; and, indeeil, 
the additions that have been made are ver)' easily enumerated, though 
they must have cost much pains, and are the re>ults of veiy curious 
observations and intricate calculations, on the part of tho&e to whom 
we stand indebted for them. 

11. We have added five planets to those fonnerly knt'Wn as l>elung- 
ir.g to our solar system. The Georgium !?idus. or Vranus, discovered 
by the celebrated sir W. Herschel, 1,701. and its satellites, 1,787 ; 
Ceres, by M. Piazzi, at Palermo, 1.801 ; Pallas, by Dr. Olbers, at 
Bremen, 1,802; Juno, by M. Harding of Lilieiithal, in 1,804; and 
Vesta, by Dr. Olbers, 1,807. To the tormer of these celebrated ob- 
servers we owe a most enlarged knowledge of the cele>tial regions, 
particularly of the nebulous parts, iVom the application of his new 
telescopes of most extraordinary powers, which have enabled us to 
ascertain that the milky-way, and other similar appearances in the 
heavens, are a congeries of fixed stars, in strata, procliijiously numer- 
ous, and exhibiting vejy curious phenomena. Of the inim«-ii-e amount 
of these stars, which may still ha\e beyond them an unf'.tbomable and 
iinexplorable abyss of the same kind, we may form some conjecture 
from the following statement of sir William himself, who found by his 
gauges, in the year 1,792, that in the small space of ibrly-one minule'i, 
no less than 238,000 stars, in the via lactea. had passed through the 
field of view in his telescope. Sir William places our own .system in 
the x/a lactea. He has discovered, besides many new stars, double 
and triple stars, and what he calls changing stars. 

12. We have learned to correct our ideas concerning the substance 
of the body ol the sun, heretofore considered as entirely of an igneous 
nature. 'I'hough its rays contribute largely to the production ol heat 
on the earth's surlace, many very obvious appearances ought sooner 
to have convinced us of what now seems clearly to be understood, that 
the sun is not a body of fire. 

. ^^- The science of astronomy has been much promoted during the 
time ot which we have been tieating, by the imi.rovement or in\ention 
ol many curious and necessary instruments, and the building and 
eslal>lisbment ol regular obsenatories ; and practical astronomy hai. 



MODERN HISTORY. IIS 

l^en carried to a very hifrh pitch, by the talents and ingenuity ot" many 
very eminent persons in Vrance. Britain, Gtrmany, Italy, Mc. ; a>i Ai. 
Clairault. d'Alcmben, De la Caille, La Place, La C^ranffe, Bailly, De 
la Lande, &:c. ; Bradley, Maskelyn, Herschel, Hntton, Roltison, 
Ferp;u-^n, VirK"e, Ate. ; Euler, Mayer, Boda, Bianchini, Boscovich, 
Frisi, Hiozzi, i^:c. 

14. We have «poken e)«e»vhprp of the travels, expressly undertaken 
in 1,75:], to measure in the ntirtheni and MHithern parts ot the worhl, a 
deo^ree of the meridian, hy uhif h the fipire o1 the earth \\as a«c( rtain- 
ed to be an oblate spheroid, accordinaj to the conjectures of sir Isaac 
Newton, and contraiy to the assertions oi the Cassinis and Benioiiilli, 
who had tor some time insisted that the polar diameter wns loiiorer 
than the equatorial : all the experimrnt^ •«cemcd to concur in proving; 
the reverse. 'I'he steps that uei' i the years 1,761 and 1,769, 
to determine the ])arallax of the - -i njns: the transit of N'eiwis, 
alTord another strong^ proof of the • \!r.i(iniiii:iry zeal and resolution 
with which science was cultivated duriris: the period of \\hich we have 
been treatine;. On the n comnu ndalion of Dr. Halley, who had ob- 
served a trmsit of .Mimir}- at St. Helena, but who did not evpect to 
live to 9<'e a tnmsit of \ eini.'*, and who in tact died in 1.742, mathema- 
ticians and astrotximei"-; wire «ent out in the years before mentioned, 
l>oth trom France and Kn^laii"!. 

15. Am«>ii<r the mixlem iiiseiitions appertainina: to astmnomv, he- 
side-* the instrument- absolutely necessary' to correct observation, we 
may reckon those curious ami elegant machines, j'xhibilinff tlu' motions 
ami phenomena ol our solar system and its several parts; oiu' orreries, 
planetarium'*, tellurians, lut)arium«, &:c., all of whicli may be consider- 
ed as extremely interesting and injrenious conlrivanci-s. 



1 . It would be useless to attempt to pive any circumstantial account 
ol the pn<cre-s that has l)een made in other science*, during the period 
of which «»• have Ixen treating, and vain to seek, by a mere eninne- 
ration of name-, t«» do justice to the many eminent aixl i''«ii<trious p^r- 
sons who havt< distiiitr<ii''he<i themselves in variou- pait-. of the world, 
in every bnuich «>! learning', u«etiil and ornament.il, *iiice the com- 
mencement ol the «-i<rhteentb centurA'. The numerous biographical 
works, chroiH>lnjjical cliait-, critical and |ihiloM(|ihi(-al journ.ils. uhicli 
have I'rom time to time be«n i)ubli-hed rhirint!: ihi-. period, may ^u|lplv 
informati«)n much mor»> lull and copious than nouhl be at all c«>n>i>tent 
with the limits of (his work, alreaiiy extendrd beyond tlnir orie^inal 
desijfti. ,As, however, the surprisins? burst of inteihct, investit^ation, 
and enterprise which has so mark«'d and di<!linijuish«'d the last and 
present centiny, apnears to have been in a gn at flejcree cunnn led 
with the hi>loiy ol Kuix)}»e durin^r th«- same period, we shall take a 
brief view of IIm; latter; bepcinniiit; with Kngland and France; the 
two countries «hich seem in several respects to have had the mt)st 
considerable share in the cbantjes that havi- taken place. 

8. At the peri«Ml of the death- of queen Anne and Lewis XIV. 
(see Sect. LXIV .) England and France apm-ar to have stood in situa- 
tioiB dianutrically oppo-iif. Kni^land had ju.-t obtained all that -he 
wanted front a revolution ; France had scarcely lieu;un to feel that -hu 
st<XKl in tMed of one. Kn«:land had succeeded" ir) placing ber ti\il ami 
relifjious ritchts on a sun- lUjtiinr ; France was as yet but little sensible 
that hers bad Ix-en greatly violated. England was recovering fn-'m a 
M m2 



414 MODERN HISTORY. 

state of misnile and !icenliou.«nf«« ; France was dedinine: more than 
ever into such a condition. In Eng;land, Newton had e>tahli.shed his 
new system of pliilosopliy, and Locke ilhistrated the principles of a 
free government ; in France, Descartes still held the minds of men in 
a state of fascination and enchantmeNt, and the people ki)e\v not what 
it was to be free. 

3. The French government, by (w creat severity in political and 
religious matters, had compelled many of her subjects to take reluge 
in foreign countries, where they were at liberty iu make their own re- 
flections, to print and to publish their thoughts upon llu- comparativ*- 
despotism of the country Irom which tiny had been driviii, and the 
delusions to which the subjects of the latter were expo-ed, 

4. Anions: those who had been thus banidied. or coni|)elled to ntirt\ 
no one could have done more to unsettle the mind.- of hi^ counlrymeru 
in regard both to religion and politics, than the celebrated fiayle. 
His object appears, however, to have been inrrcli/ U> viisftile them ; 
lor his whole work is a tissue of doubts and dilFiculties, which In- had 
no disposition to resolve, but to leave to every man's own judgment to 
determine, attcr having veiy impartially stated all the aitcument'- and 
all the facts he could possibly collect, on both sides of e\try qui ^liun. 

5. The French had been so long used to submistion, that merely to 
teach them to doubt was a grand step towards a revolution in thiir 
opinions ; hut Bayle did not live to see the sef>ds he had been sowing- 
come to any perfection. It was not, according to the account of the 
French themselves, till Voltaire, partly in a state of exile, had vi,>-ited 
England, that they began to ripen. In England, \'oltaire becanu- ac- 
quainted with the philosophy of Ni-wton ami iiO<k»\ and saw some of 
the best political principles of the latter estnbli.>-lud an<l inaction; 
but being the guest of Bolingbroke, his deistical principle-, which 
were ver)' early made known by a passage in liis trapdv of Cl^dijius^ 
underwent no change, or were probably more deeply nxed and con- 
lirnied. 

fi. Though Shaftesburv. Wolston, Collins. Toland, Tiiidal, and 
others, had attacked revelation, and either open!y t)r in.iidiouslv sought 
to inibue tlu minds of the English with their deistical principle> ; the 
public in general were little affected by their writings. Alen of .»upe- 
rior talents, superior credit, and ver\- superior learning, had lived, or 
were living, capable of giving a different tone to the t'eelings of ihe 
people. Newton, Locke, Addison, Steele, Clarke, Swilt, &c., were 
amply sufficient to support the cause ol reliy-ion ; and not only to de- 
lend the very outworks of Christianity, but to avert the shall> of ridi- 
cule, and set at naught the sarcasms of inhdttlity. In tho-e admirable 
periodical papers, the Spectator, the Guardian, the Tattler, kc, we 
may trace a direct and most benevolent de.■^ign of rescuing the ri.-ing 
generation from the contagion of bad examples, and IJje iniluence of 
false principles. 

7. In France it was otherwise: dei^m, though weak asfaiast the 
plain evidences of Christianity, was strong against the fanaticism of a 
bigoted, and the superstition of a corrupted church. The banter of 
Voltaire soon began to take effect, when aimed at things and persons 
«) vulnerable as the monastic orders, and the controverted points in 
dispute between the .Jesuits and Jansenists. The defence oi religion 
also, in consequence of these disgraceful and puerile conflicts and the 
plausibdity of the attacks that were made upon it, which struck hard 
at Its abuses, fell into hands little capable of wielding the '^eapons so 
eflectually employed in England. The diead of derision too soou 



MODERN HISTORY. 415 

damped the spirit of pulpit eloquence, which had cast such a lustre" 
on the names ot Saurin, Miis.-<illoii, ice. ; and converted even the chris- 
tian preacher into a philosopher of the nio'h'rn school. Among: tliose 
who first appeared in det'ence of revealed religion against the deists, 
the Fr«-nch themselves have particularly nientioiK'd the younger Ra- 
cine, the cardinal de Polii^nac, and M. Le Franc de Pompignan. 
'I'he first wrote a heavy poem, which few read; the second a long 

()hilosophical poem in Latin, which not many could reail ; and the 
ast published some sacred odes, of which \ oltaire lound room to >ay, 
with his usual wit, '* S(tcrrs ils sont, car personne n'y toiirin-."' Though 
Voltaire ini;;ht have imliihed his dei»m in part from Boliiigbroke, it 
was plainly not a plant of KIll;li^h growth ; but it proved to be sadly 
congenial at that time to the soil of France. 

8. The reffency had wrought a great change in the principles and 
manners of th.4t lively poopVe. The profligate habits of the duke of 
Orleans opened a wide hehi to libertines and freethinker*, and natu- 
rally encouraged them to si»eak their minds more freely upon all sul)- 
joctV than would otherwise have been consistent with the spirit of the 
government. Religion and moi-als, indeed, could t)ot have received a 
greater blow than Irom the e\tn\or»linar}' elevation of the intamous 
Uiihois to the rmk of cardinal, and to the archbishopric of Cambray, 
so lately filled !»y the amiable ami virtuous Feiielon. 

9. While the moral* of the French were thus becoming daily moi-e 
deprived, the manner.-, of the Kiiu,lish were evi<ientlv much improved. 
The grave .uid au>fern ch.iracler of William 111., tlie corn-ct dei'oit- 
ment of M.-ry, ami her sister, queen Anne, had elVectuall}' rliecked 
the licentiou-'ne^s of the two piTceding reigns, and given encourage- 
ment to a set of writei-s peculiarly canable of amending the age. ot 
inculcaliiur true piety and sound morality, and ^-iviiig a Y>ftter tone to 
tlie annisi menls of the public. Instead of the g oss indelicacies which 
had disgraced the writing- and degraded the talents, of Vanbursrh, 
Behn. Con:(rt\e, and even Diyden, the t.-.ste ami manm rs of the nation 
dcTived great impwvonient ami advantages fituu the more chaste and 
correct performances of Ad'lisfin, Steele, Rowe, Prior, i't^pe, Tlionistm, 
Aken>-iae, &:c. The stasre und«i-went a wholesome relormation, and 
in every dej>artment of literature there ajipeareil a manil'ot leaning 
towards whatever could conduce to purity of M.nliinenl and delicacy 
of I'ee'ii'g. 

10. H;id Voltaire carriefl bark with him fn m our shores, as he 
might have done, a punr form of chri>tinnity, and a better syst«!n ol 
morals, as well as a more correct philosoi)hy,and sounder iirinciples ol 
government, he niiirht have cxwferrcd a lasting benelit on his coiiiitr)' . 
a benefit the more timely and critical, as it would iHi»ibly have pre- 
vented «ome of the wor>t evils which befe! th;<t unh;ij ]>y nation in her 
.subsequent struggles for lilM-rty. R.iyle h.id tai);:ht the Fn-m h to 

, doubt ; Voltaire, havini; taken a near, "though imjxrfect view of Fng- 
land, taught tliem to think and to inquire ; while u gix-ater man tli.ui 
himself was contributing, lliough more slowly and quietly, to die 
same end. ^- 

11. Almost at the very time that Voltaire was m KllL'^Iand,«Nontcs- 

2uleu visited the same country ; but appears princip dly U) have con- 
ircd his views to the great ofject of his rese.irches, tiie spirit ol her 
laws, and the leadine; principles of her admirable constilutioii. There 
he learned to admiiv, in itv ruresl form, a limited t,„ nv iiv. and a 
^ system of ;;.. i^pnidence, equally adverse to tyranny a:. ''"/ T ' 

equally friendly to the wholesome autlioiily 01 the a.,, uid lliv 



4 IB MODERN HISTORY. 

ii-st lights of the people. Montesquieu, ho^veve^, (thoudi in hi? Per- 
sian Letters he had betrayed a leaning towards deism,) moved in a 
line distinct trom that generally taken by the philosophei-s ol the day. 
While Voltaire very soon manifested a desire ot taking the lead of all 
the wits and freethinkers, however different their talents, their charac- 
ters, or their principles, Montesquieu was not displeased to be left to 
himself, and to leave his great work to make its own impressions, how- 
ever slowly, on sensible and ingenuous minds. Its first effects of any 
importance may, perhaps, be traced in the remonstrances of the par- 
ts, who began to take a higher tone after the publication of 
)■/ flpo T.m<t and to ronsider themselves more in the liffht of reo- 



liament 



Uesprit des Lois, and to consider themselves more in the light of rep 
rf sentatives of the people. 

12. A number of very extraordinary men were beginning at the 
same time to draw upon themselves the attention of the world, and to 
employ their talents in different lines, and often upon very different 
principles, to enlighten the world, and emancipate it from the thral- 
dom of ancient prejudices and inveterate abuses. Among these, how- 
ever, none were more extravagantly eccentric than J. J. Rousseau. 
This extraordinary man was decidedly for new modelling the whole 
system of political society, and reducing it to principles which existed 
only in his own imagination. Not having ever seen a race of savages, 
he fiincied they must be the more pertect the nearer they were to a 
state of nature; and being tormented with the restraints of civilized 
society, he concluded civilization itself to be an evil. These sophisms 
served to render him the idol of the equalizing and destroying dema- 
gogues ot the revolution. It was impossible to resist the UDprcssions 
made by the captivating pictures he drew ; but they seldom had any 
better effect than that o( rendering his votaries as dissatisfied with the 
world as he himself was, and bewildering their imaginations with 
doubts and difficulties innumeral)le. He knew how to appreciate the 
sublime morality of the gospel, though he could not regulate his own 
actions by it ; and having found in the bible, as in all other cases, 
something that dissatisfied his restless and irritable mind, and reviling 
what he could not approve, or did not sufficiently understand, he cer- 
tainly did as much mischief to the cause of revealed religion, calling 
himself a christian all the while, as the worst of his deistical contem- 
poraries. His opinions and his actions, as exhibited in his own 
wiitij)gs, will for ever render him an object of admiration mingled 
With pity, if not in some instances with abhorrence ! 

13. But it was, in no long course of time, discovered that the free 
opinions that were afloat, and which Avere as various as the persons 
n ho entertained them, and who had as yet no common bond ot union, 
as Voltaire, Rousseau, Buffon, Diderot, D'Alembert, Duclos, Helve- 
tius, Marmontel, Condillac, Raynal, Volney, (to name but a few,) 
should by some means or other be embodied and consolidated, that 
tJie whole of then' several thoughts and observations on different sub- 
jects might be presented to the world in a mass. This wa« the origin 
ot that great and voluminous undertakmg, the Encyclopedie, spoken 
ot betore, planned by Diderot and D'Alembert ; and which, to say 
tne least ot it, seemed to be a treasure of universal science, far more 
comprehensive, at least, than any thing oj the kind beiure attempted, 
being not confined to what might strictly be called the arts an(i 
my and financ?*^^ ^"^ ^^ ^^'^'^ question of government, civil econo- 

tr-.lt'o-II?!^"'^?""^'!'^ Encyclopedique, amidst many fr.ults and ex- 
iiavagances, containeu undoubtedly much important matter, written ia 



MODERN HISTORY. 417 

so agreeable a style, as to be admirably fitted to excite and promote 
a thirst after general knowledge, universal inquiry and investigation, 
a confidence in private judgment, and a prejudice against every thing 
that appeared to have no other support than custom and authority. 
Wheat might be torn up with the tarts, and tares often sown instead 
of corn : but it must be acknowledged that we stand indebted to the 
projectors of this work for the detection and extirpation of many 
errors, and the powerl'ul stimulus given by their movements to the 
spirit of free inquiry and useful research. 

15. The persons engaged in it have been sogenerally called philos- 
ophers, and have been styled such in so many histories of the French 
revolution, that it is almost necessarj' to observe that the greater part 
of them bore little resemblance to those who had heretofore been dip- 
nilied with that title. The regent, duke of Orleans, though dissolute 
in his h.djits of life, was a man of taste, talent, and infonnation ; so 
that the savuns of France, who had heretofore been a retired order of 
men, became about this period the life of society, and the ornaments 
of the highest circles in the metropolis. Some tew, indeed, still kept 
at a distance from the court, but, generally speaking, such was the 
state of things durina: the regency ; and afterwards, when Lewis XV. 
fell into that disgraceful course of life, which cloud!ed his latter days, 
and siii)jected him and his mistresses to the censure of the cleigy, 
even Voltaire, whom the king personally disliked, and the Encyclo- 
paedi.sts, as enemies to the clergy, were taken into favour. 'J'hey 
were often indeed dismissed agam, but never entirely driven from 
court. 

16. -This change of public opinion, even in the highest circles, in- 
troduced the leanied mto places «here they never appeared before, 
and gave them a new character. While the influence which the men 
of letters thus began to acqiiire in society, obliged the noblesse to 
change their habits also, and to minsjle with those who before formed 
a distinct class ; it obliged them also to cultivate learning themselves, 
and even the females found it necessary to become more or less 
philosophical. 

17. In the mean while some of these modern philosophers had other 
European courts set open to them, particularly in the northern part? 
of Europe, where a greater degree of liberty m the article of oi)inioti 
already prevailed, very different from the bigoted and Machiavelian 
principles of Rome ami Italy, which had hitherto born* sway. Cath- 
erine 11. of Russia, and Frederic of Prussia, through a laudable desire 
probably of improving and enlishtenii'jj; their semi-barbaT-ous domin- 
ion'^, invited thither some of the most busy of the French literati ; but 
with little judgment or discrimination. Frederic, besides Voltaire, 
D'Alembert, and Maunertius, gave free admission, and even encour- 
agement, to the atheist La Methrie.the marquis D''Ai^ens,and the abi)e 
de Prades ; and Catherine received, and greatly patronised in his 
latter years, the celebrated Diden)t. Thus, with the knowledge and 
learning which the new philosophers really possessed, scepticism and 
infidelity were spread far and wide, and there was a sad mixture of 
darkness and illumination in all they taught. 

18. The French revolution has "been attributed to the literati, or 
philosophers of those days ; but we should greatly err, if we were to 
suppose that they contemplated generally such a dissolution of things 
as afterwards toolc place ; many, indeed, were dead before the revo- 
lution commenct^d. Neither Voltaire nor Montesquieu were repub- 
licans ; the former had a supreme contempt for the populace ; and, 

5i 



418 MODERN HISTORY. 

by his flattery of Catherine II. and the marchioness de Pompadour, 
would seem to have had little of the republican spirit in him. Indeed 
it has been asserted of him, that " he loved kings." Raynal is said 
to have shuddered when he saw his own violent imprecations on des- 
potism and tyranny brought into action. Some, however, undoubted- 
ly threw aside all restraints, openly declared themselves deists, atheists, 
6i.c., and to their abominable blasphemy and infidelity we may rea- 
sonably impute many of the evils which marked those dreadful times : 
but, in truth, the history of opinions ceases to be connected after a 
short time with the French revolution. It very soon became a strug- 
gle of passions and private interests, and at length terminated in a 
catastrophe as fatal to the literati as to the throne and the altar. That 
fatal instrument, the g^iillolinc, so much spoken of at that time, was 
stained with tlie blood of some of those very persons who had con- 
tributed most to the advancement of knowledge, and the propagation 
of liberal ideas. 

19. The impulse, however, was now given to two of the most curi- 
ous, ingenious, and inquisitive nations of Europe, and nothing could 
possibly exceed the rapidity with which eveiy branch of science has 
since been cultivated ; in Britain, constantly with more steadiuesA, 
gravity, and judgment, than in France, though not with more zeal and 
activity. The Germans, in tiie mean while, in the northern parts 
more particularly, seem to have devoted their time to studies of 
rather a diifeitnt description, being known chiefly for works of in- 
tense research and most profound learning. Experimental philosophy, 
natural histoiy, and chemistry, have indeed been also cultivated by 
them with considerable success ; but in worka ot fancy, w it, and 
huinour, they have not acquired so much ci-edit as their neighbours. 
A singular disposition to indulge in tales of wonder, chivalry, and 
knight-errantry, has been manifested in most of their works of imagi- 
nation; and in metaphysics, they have produced systems, which, while 
they betray an extraordinary talent for the investigation f f such ab- 
sti-use subjects, are certainly mote to be admired for their ineenuitv 
than their utility. 

20. No country in Europe, perhaps, can have undergone greater 
improvements, during the period of which we have been treating, than 
Kussia ; but her improvement has not been so much progressive as 
sudden. The mighty genius of P'eter the grent determined him to 
introduce his own extensive empii-e at once into the commonwealth of 
Lurope ; and, instead of waiting to give his subjects a capacity for 
i"JP[o^"'ng themselves, as other nations had done, "he eagerly adopted 
all that had been discovered elsewhere, and con\ erted his rude people 
into a civilized nation, just as far as such methods could reach. He 
taught them to adopt and imitate m hat they were as yet in no condi- 
tion to invent, or even improve, and leil it to his successors to fill up 
the gaps that might remain unprovided for at the time of his death. 
His subjects, or rather slaves, obeyed his dictates, and h?ve continued 
since to learn trom their neighboui-s, till they have attained to such 
prohciency m the arts of life, as to be no longer regarded as a rude or 
Ignorant people, though all the other countries of Europe had the start 
ot them till the very close of the seventeenth century. 

21. Feter the great had, in a small compass ot time, some very 
weak and some veiy wise successors. The ibrmer have not been I 
suffered to stand long m the way of the latter, and though their re- 
moval has savoured little of the civilization and improvement of which 
we have been speaking, it cannot be denied that Russia has been pre- 



MODERN HISTORY. 419 

vented by many singular occurrences from relapsing' into her former 
state of nideness and barbarity. The extremes ot magnificence and 
rudeness, indeed, are too olten found to meet ; and the middle class 
has by no means yet acquired that importance in society which i* so 
essential to eveiy well-regulated government. The state of things 
still exhibits too much of the old narrow line of distinction, of loitis 
and vassals ; nevertheless, Russia has obtained much, and advanced 
considerably. Where, little more than a centuiy aif(^ wolves fed and 
srjught their prey, an immense and niagniricent city and nutrnpolis 
now stands, thronged with inhaljitants from all [)arts of th(> gl(il>e : but 
perhaps it would be well if she would consent to stt-p back and give a 
solid and more natural base to her acquirements. The .systern of 
adoption and imitation has brought her to a state rather <jf superficial 
than of real greatness. She has had her uni\crsities bclore her 
schools ; but it could not well be othenvise in so sudden an improve- 
ment : much remains to be done before the nation at lare;e, in its sev- 
eral relations, social and political, can be said to be really and clTeclu- 
ally civilized. 

22. Sweden, during the eighteenth century, produced many emin<'nt 
men, and contributed largely to the advancement of science. It may 
be sufficient to mention, in prcK)f of this, the names of Linnaeus, Wal- 
Jerius, Cronstadt, Bergman, Scheele, Thunberg, and Sparrman. 

23. The Danes have not been idle, but have encournffed in many 
ways tl)e promotion of literature and philosophy ; mathematics and 
astronomy, zoologj', botany, and oth«'r science.s, have been cultivated 
with good success ; aiul many splendid works are extant, that r» fleet 
great credit on the spirit and ardour of the government, as well as of 
individuals, and the learned societies instituted and established there. 



DISCOVERIES AND INVENTIONS. 

I 1. Manv new discoveries and invention,^ of lasting benefit to man- 
I kind, as well as many most essential iiuprovei>.ents of old inventions 
1 and discoveries, have marked the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries ; 
I Rome of the most remarkable of which it will be sufficient merely to 
1 name, as they are already become too couunon and familiar to need 
I explanation ; such as inocvlatix)iu and much more recently, nictinn- 
i tion ; steatn-cns^ines and stfiiin-bnnti ; printing of linm and cotton 
' cloths ; /'rt/Jfr tor moms ; Jigii red silks imd carpels; sjiinniv^ ina- 
clilnes ; stereotype printing, and litlwfcrovhic tngnniii^ ; musical 
I types; porrelain and pottery; particularly n'clch and irnn-stnne chm:i ; 
Ughtning conductors ; time-j)icces ; pneumatic, electrical, and galvanic 
apparatus ; life-boats and hfe-presei-vers ; the speaking-trumpet, safe- 
ty-lamp, telegraphs, gas-lights, pauorninas, btdloous, refecting and 
achromatic lelescojies, concave mirrors, >vith various other optical and 
astronomical instajinents. 

2. Laws and governments have hern advancing towanls a greater 
degree of pertection, though in many countries very slowly, ;uid 
manifestly under tlifficultiis and impodiments which time only can 
remove. The French revolution opened people's eyes to ancient 
abuses; but by inducing all the evils and hormrs of anarchy, did by 
no means accomplish so much for real liberty, as might have been 
wished and expected ; like other tumulluarj' revolutions, it terminated 
in a militaiy despotism, and its etfecls on the continent of Europe 
have been hitherto pai'tial, and apparently of much less importance as 



420 MODERN HISTORY. 

to the actual amelioration of things than many persons expected. Still 
we may justly enumerate among the changes conducive to the luture 
benefit, comfort, and happiness of mankind, the steps taking m sev- 
eral states to restore or establish the representative system ot govern- 
ment ; the dissolution of many monastic institutions, and feudal priv- 
ileges ; the check that has been given to arbitrary imprisonment, 
torture, the horrors of the inquisition, and the African slave-trade ; 
the improvements that have taken place, principally through the in- 
terposition of our benevolent countryman, Mr. Houanl. in the man- 
agement of prisons, and the extraordinary steps lately taken, especial- 
ly in the British dominions, for the better education of the poor and 
their instruction in religion. 

3. It would be vain indued to attempt to enumerate the astonishing 
additions that have been made within these few years, to the public 
establishments for the promotion of know ledge, the advancement of 
professional skill, and the relief of the necessities of inankind. Phil- 
osophical societies of all descriptions have been formed in various 
parts, under the most favourable circumstances of sui)port and encour- 
agement. The propagation of Christianity has been attended to, and 
promoted with extraordinaiy zejil, not only by individuals, but by 
missionaiy and Bible-societies, far too numerous to mention. Every 
description of medical, chirui^ical, and other assistance, has Iteen 
furnished to the poor, by a most extraordin.ny increase of hospitals 
and infirmaries, dispensaries, asylums, and cliarity-schcKils. The 
naval and military professions have had the benefit conferred on them 
of new and distinct academies, including a charitable provision for the 
children of those who have perished in either service. Tlu- improved 
state of chemistry and mechanical skill, has advanced many arts to a 
very high degree of perfection, and much assisted both the mnnufac- 
turiiig and agricultural iridustiy ; nor should we omit to mention, as 
among the improvements of latter years, by which our own rountry in 
particular has been benefited in the highest degi-ee, the amendment 
of the public roads, the increased means and facilities of jMjblic con- 
veyance and communication, and the advancement of inland tia\ igation. 



RELIGION. 

1. In regard to religion, from the close of the seventeenth century 
to the year 1,820, we may remark that paganism continues to prevail 
over the greater part of Asia, Africa, and the new discovered islands, 
as well as among the Indians of America, North and South, (in the 
settlements of the Spaniards and Portuguese, the Roman Catholic re- 
ligion has been introduced of course.) Mahometanism prevails in 
some parts of India, in Persia, Arabia, Eirs'pt, the States of Barbary, 
Syria, and Turkey. The Jews continue dispersed over every part of 
the world, but in a state and condition far better than was formerly 
the case ; in Europe they are no longer exposed to cruel and wanton 
acts of oppression and persecution, and in some countries they have 
oljtamud miportant privileges. In Abyssinia the majority of the 
people are said to be christians, and throughout the whole of the Eu- 
ropean settlements of North America, Christianity is the received re- 
ligion, though under a variety of denominations,— Conerregationalists, 
rresDYtenaiis, Dutch reformed church. Episcopalians, Baptists, Qua- 
Kers, Methodists, Roman Catholics, German Lutherans, German Cal- 



MODERN HISTORY. 421 

vinists, Moravians, Tunkers, Mennonists, Universalists, Swedenbor- 
gians, and Shakers. 

2. In regard to religion or Christianity, on the continent of Europe, 
it has been already shown what nide attacks it had to sustain, during 
the course and progress of the French revokition. Deism and even 
atheism were openly avowed in their national assemblies ; the im- 
mortality of the soul and resurrection of the body scouted at, and 
death pronounced to be an eternal sleep. Paganism was in some de- 
gree revived, the tree of liberty sul)stituteii for the cross, and the 
goddess of reason elevaltd above the God of Christians. During the 
directorial and consular governments, however, Catholicism was re- 
stored, but under verj' altered circumstances ; without its accompani- 
ments of monasteries and nunneries, and very much detached from 
the sway and authority of the papal see. 

3. The proteslant churches, ol all sects and denominations, have 
done much, as was before observed, by missions in evt ly direction, to 
spread the knowledge of Christianity, nut seldom with that cordiality 
and unanimity that might have been wished, and which could not 
have failed to have given greater elfect to their exertions. Among 
those who have appeared most zealous, thougli not most discreet, we 
may reckon the Aloruvimis and Methodists ; two sects or parties, 
whose most avowed object it ha'^ been to stem the torrent of vice and 
corruption, prevailing amongst professed rhri.-tians. The methodists 
have generally called themselves of the church of England, though in 
many material respects they appear to have deviated from it, both in 
doctrine and discipline, and have for some time been divided amongst 
themselves into two great parties, one espousing the Calvinislic, the 
otiier the Arminian, tenets. It is common to refer the oriein of 



Methodism to the year 1,729, when the two brothers, John and C harlea 
A\ esley, ^k the lead of those \\\\o adhered to the Anninian doctrines. 
Mr. Geol^ Whitetield, who joined them in 1,735, became, in 1,"41, 
the head of the Cah inistic division. 

4. The modern Moravians take their date from the year 1,722, 
when tlipy first settled at Hernhut, in Upper Lusatia, on the estates 

t Nicholas Lewis, count of Zin/endorf, who, in 1,735, became their 
ishop. They profess to receive the Augsburg confession ; are meek 
<ind quiet in their habits and principles, but have at times adopted a 
strange phraswology, which was thought to alTect their moral character, 
and prixured them many enemies. As missionaries they have been 
extremely active, particularly in the West Indies and America : they 
profess to be the remains of the Hussites. 

5. The empen)r Joseph II. relieved his protestant sulijects of all 
denominations from many galling restrictions, and greatly abridged 
the power of the pope. iVIany catholic princes, even the ecclesiasti- 
cal states, followed his example in various particulars. In favouring, 
however, an unlimited freedom of opinion at such a moment, he open- 
ed the door to the introduction of deistical principles, and facilitated 
the formation of a sect of illuminati, which, during the course and 
progress of the French revolution, taught and disseminated doctrines 
adverse in the highest degree to the order of civil society, the rights 
of property, and the christian faith. 

6. The papal authority, during the latter years of the period under 
discussion, has been greatly abridged in all countries heretofore sub- 
ject to it ; even in Spain, rortugal, Italy, and Sicily ; nor is it likely 
to be recovered, notwithstanding the attempts lately made to restore 
partially the order of Jesuits and the iiK^uisition. Of the uidignities 

N n 



422 MODERN HISTOPxY. 

offered to the last and present pope by the French we have spoken 

elsewhere. At one time they so entirely took the reins ot Kovernnient 
at Rome into their own hands, that the pope and carduials were 
obli°-ed to take flight, in which situation Pius M. dud. His suc- 
cessor, Pius VII., since the final overthrow ol Buonaparte, has livc-d 
in peace and quietness, in his capital, excrcisins:, notwithstanding his 
recall oi'the Jesuits, a very tolerant and inoffensive sway. It is, how- 
ever, to be lamented, that, in the instance of the pope, as well as of 
the king- of Naples, and others, their resentment of the French usur- 
pations on their return to their dominions has been carried so far as to 
abrogate every ordinance of the French Emperor, however wise or 
palutaiy, and even to undo what had been begun, manifestly tending 
to the improvement of their respective coujitries. 

HISTORY, FOLITE LITERATURE, FINE ARTS, &c. 

1. We feel ourselves rather at a loss to give any satisfactory account 
of tlie progress that has been made in the branches of knowledge 
pointed out by the title of this section : it would lar exceed our limits 
to attempt to enumerate the many historical works that have bt en pub- 
lished during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, or to go into any 
regular discussion of the particular merits of the several poets, paint- 
ers, musicians, philosophers, philologi^ts, &.c. &c., who may be said to 
h.ive distinguished themselves in the period of which we have been 
treating. To do this with any deg^ree of justice, we should be oblig- 
ed, perhaps, to divide them into many classes, and assign to the sev- 
eral individuals of the long li,-t that miffht be produced, their respec- 
tive ranks and stations, from the highe>t degree of perfection to medi- 
ocrity, or lower ; we should have to draw a comparison betottien ihein 
and their predecessors, and consider, in various points of vwK. every 
advance they had made in their different callings, studies, and pur- 
suits : but such a discussion would be quite unsuitable to a work like 
the present. Many of those, indeed, who liaA e contributed to enlarge 
the boundaries of knowledge during the eighteenth and nineteenth 
centuries, have been already mentioned ; but there are still some 
names which almost demand our notice, bel'ore we entirely close this 
volume. It should, however, be observed, that many very eminent 
persons, who lived till long after the commencement of the eighteenth 
centuiy, belong: to a different period, having been the ornaments of 
what is called the age of Louis XIV. It may be best, perhaps, to 
arrange the tew we feel bound to select from the great mass of au- 
thors, artists, &c., according to their countries. 

2. In Germany the following may be said to have acquired a high 
reputation: Mascov, Moshoim, Pleffel, Herder, Muller, in //is/ory ; 
Schiller hi Htslonj and Tragedy; Klopstock, Gesner, VVieland, 
Kotzebue, Goethe, in Poetry and Dranuiti-c ■writing ; in Painting, 
Mengs ; Ingenhouz in Oietnistry, and Bode in Astrvnomy ; Handel, 
Gluck, Haydn, and Mozart, in Music ; Lavater in the fanciful science 
ot Pkmiogiiorny. Even the names of Mesmer, Mainaduc, Gall, and 
Spurzheim, may require to be mentioned, as having for some time, in 
an extraordinary manner, amazed the ignorant, and deceived the 
credulous, by their strange systems of Animal Magnetism aiid 
Cranrology. 

3. In France, Camlet, Montfaucon, the Count de Caylus Rollin- 
Vertot, Rapm, Goguet, Miuut, Raynal, Mably, and the Abbe Bar- 



MODERN HISTORY. 423 

fhelemy, particularly distinguished themselves in the line of History 
and Antiquities ; to whom we may now add, perhaps with reason ana 
justice, Mad. <ie Stael, and M. La Cretelle. M. bailly, one of the 
Victims of the Hevokition, rendered himself conspicuous by his very 
curious History of Astronomy, and other works. Many of his con- 
temporaries, who applied lliemselves to other branches of science, 
have been already mentioned. Some of them also fell by the hands 
of the p<iblic executioner, during^ the dreadful period of the Revolu- 
tion. Their most celebrated painter, however, David, escaped, but 
with more reputation as an artist than as a man ; for his own proceed- 
ings, as a revolutionist, wei-e base and sanguinary. 

4/ In Great Britain, we have to boast, in the line of History, of the 
names of Robertson, Watson, Hume. Gibbon, Lyttelton, Goldsmith, 
Rosct>e, Russell, Gillies, Ferguson, Stuart, Mitford ; in Law, of Sir 
William Blackstonc, whose Coumientaries, tor elegance and perspi- 
cuity of diction, stand unrivalled. Rolingbroke and Swift arc justly 
held to have improved the Knglish language, in the two main articles 
of eneigy and beauty. 'J'he style of Dr. Johnson is less chaste, 
though, perhaps, equally forcible. The name of Adam Smith will 
I>robablY descend to the latest posterity, for his masterly work on the 
wealth of nations, a subject in which he seems almost to have taken 
the lead, as an original writer. In Painting:, the names of Hogarth, 
Reynalds, and West, stand high tor originality, taste, conception, and 
expression ; in Metapln/sics, Hume, Hartley, Berkeley, Heid, Baxter, 
and Priestley, have distinguished themselves. To the Poets already 
mentio«ied we mu«t add Gay, Young, Shenstone, Collins, Gray, Ma- 
son, Cowpf r, Crabbe, Scott, Byron ; as ^ym^elists, Richard.'^on, Smol- 
lett, FieUling, Bumey, Edgewortb, &:c. Garrick and Siddons ha\e 
conferred immortal honour on the English Stage. 

5. Italy, thousfh labt)uring under great disadvantages, has been by 
no means deficient in learned and scientific pereons, smce the close of 
the seventeenth cenfur^^-. In liistoiy and antiquities, in poetry, dra- 
matic works, nafunl history, drawing, engravin*;, and sculpture, ihe 
following names richly desene to be delivereil down to posterity : 
Baronius, Giannone, Muratori, Matl'ei, Metastasio, Goldoni, Aljjamtti, 
Gozzi, Tiral)oschi,Becc.aria, Spallanzani, Altieri, Bartolozzi, Cipriani, 
Canova. France and Italy seem to have a joint claim to a living 
author of considerable fame, M. Simondes de Sismondi. 



TliEATY OF VIENNA, 1,815. 

1. As Europe, generally speaking, may be said to continue at this 
mometit in the state in which it was left ny the above treaty, we shall 
conclude with a brief sketch of llu; changes that took place at that 
memorable period. Tlu; duchy of Warsaw was given to the emperor 
of Kussja, with permission tf) a><sume the titles of czar and king of 
Poland,'some parts, however, being secuwd to Prussia, under the title 
of grand Duchy of Posen. The town of Cracow, in Litlle Poland, 
on the banks of the Vistula, was declared to be for ever a free, in- 
dependent, and strictly neutral city, under the protection of Austria, 
Russia, and Pru-^sia. The king of Saxony was confirmed in his regal 
titles, but at the prTce of many important cessions to Pnissia, priuci- 

Fally that of the duchy of Saxony. Prussia, besides, recovered 
)antzic, Quedlinburg, and many other places ; yielding, however, to 
the king of Great Britain, now become king of Hanover niso, many 



424 UNITED STATES. 

lordships and principalities in other parts of Germany. A new Ger- 
manic confederation was established, the members of which were 
declared to be equal in their rights, and bound to render to each other 
mutual assistance. Their affairs to be confided, first to a federative 
diet, amounting to seventeen votes ; and, 2dly, to a general assembly, 
forming sixty-nine votes ; who are to decide upon all regulations 
touching the fundamental laws of the confederation. The diet to 
assemble at Frankfort on the Maine, and Austria to preside. The 
three important fortresses of Landau, Mentz, and Luxembourg, being 
assigned over to the confederation. 

2'. The united provinces of the Netherlands, late the Belgic states, 
were formed into a kingdom, jointly with those of Holland, in favour 
of the house of Orani^e Nassau, late stadtholders ; and to the same 
sovereign was granted the duchy of Luxemboui-g, witli the title of 
grand duke. 

3. The integrity of the nineteen cantons of Switzerland was ac- 
knowledged, and guarantied ; agd Geneva, lor the first time, consti- 
tuted a canton ol the Helvetic confederacy. The states of Genoa 
were annexed to the kingdom of Sardinia, in the place of many re- 
nunciations on the part of the latter power, principally in favour of 
Geneva. The grand duchy of Tuscany was settled on the archduke 
Ferdinand of Austria ; and king Ferdinand tlie IVih was restored to 
the sovereignty of the Two Sicilies. 



PART FOURTH. 
UNITED STATES. 



SECTION I. 

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 

1. It was somewhat natural that the distinguished author of the 
Elements of History should almost exclusively confine himself to the 
great events of the old world. It will be observed that the discoveiy 
of America by Columbus embraces only a short space, (see Section 
XLI.) and that North America, the first settlement of the United 
States, the revolution and severance of those states from the crown of 
Great Britain, and the more recent dispute of the States with Great 
Britain, are dismissed by both authors in a kw words. (See Section 
XLIl., and Sections VIII. and XX. of the Continuation.) This con- 
sideration will suggest the propriety of a more particular narration of 
the events which relate to the United States, for whose particular use 
the present edition of this work is intended. 



UNITED STATES. 425 

2. The honour of accomplishing an exploit so sublime as that ol the 
discovery of this ue.»tern hemisphere, was stained by Christopher 
Columbus. This great man, a native of Genoa, descended from a 
respectable family, was well qualiried by nature and education,to be- 
come distinguished on the ocean. Anleiitly inclined towards that 
element, he went to sea at the a?e of fourtef-n. After a variety of 
adventures serving to enlarge his knowledge more than to increase his 
fortune, he went to Lisbon. Here, having married the daughter of 
Pereslrello, a Portuguese naviefator of much celebrity, his tavourite 
passion of making discoveries was rendered more irresistible by reaii- 
ing the journals of iiis father-in-law, which had fallen into his hands. 

3. The attention of tlie Portuguese was at that time directed to the 
finding a j»assage by «aler to the East Indies ; and they intended [n 
accomplish this purpo.-c by passing to the south until they reached tlif 
southern extremity (>( Afiica, and then taking an easterly coursi-. 
The spherical figure of the earth was then known, and its magnitude 
had been ascertained with some good degree of accuracy ; and the 
active mind of Columbus, alter h;tving attentively compared the 
oi)S4.'rvati6ns of modern navigators with the conjectures of the ancients, 
at last came to the conclusion, that, by sailing tiinctly to the west, 
new countries, which it «as likely formtd a part of the great contineut 
of Asia, must be discovei-ed. ifis opinion was slrt-ngtheiied by the 
discover}', after a long course of westerly wind, of pieces of citvcd 
wood, trees, anil canes, and dead bodies, the natives ol another clime. 
driven on the shores of the Madeira isles and the Azores. 

4. Fully satisfied with the truth of his system, Columbus was im- 
patient to bring it to the test of experiment. He first made applica- 
tion to tlie scjiale ol Genoa f"oi patronage, desii-ous that his native 
countiy should reap the fruits of his labour and ingenuity ; but here 
his proposals were rejected as the dream of a chimerical projector. 
Not discouraged by this repulse, he laid his plans before John king 
of Portugal, wbo h.i.^dy att«'inpted a fraud on him. by despatching a 
vessel in pursuit of the discoveiy, after drawing from Columbus all 
the information which treachery could devise. The pilot selectrd lor 
this purpose, being no less deficient in courage than were his em- 
ployers in dignity and justice, returned to Lisbon without making any 
discovery. 

5. Disttiistcil with the treachery, Columbus instantly went to Spain, 
and laid his pliin before Ferdinand and Isahella, ^,it the same time that 
he sent his broliier liartli7»lomew to Fiigland, for the purpose of nego- 
tiating for the patronage of Henry \ If., reported to be one of the 
niosi sagacious and opulent princes of the ago. Accident deprived 
Englaml of the renown of ibis discovery ; tiie brother of Columbus 
on his way b(.-\u<x captured by pirates, and rietaitied in captivity many 
years : aithouixh arriving in England in -great indigence, Henry re- 
ceived the overtures of Columbus more favourably than any other 
monarch, and invited him to that countiy. But it was too late. 'J he 
great discoverer, after combating many and sore tlisappointments, 
succeeded .it length in securing the .Spanish c<turt, aided oy two rich, 
generous, and vigilant patrons, C^uintanella and Santangel. Ferdinand 
was still restrained by his cliaracteristic caution and reserve ; liut 
isaijella, alive to the p:lory which must accnie fixim the accomplisli- 
meiU of so gran«l an enterprise, declared her resolution to employ 
Coiunibus ; and, in the low state of her finances, consequent on a long 
and serious contest with the IVIoors, who had then but just heen ex- 
pelled from Spain, oflcred to pledge her jewels in order to coiuiilete 

N n 2 64 



426 UNITED STATES. 

the preparations of the voyage : Santangel however relieved the difE« 
cuhy, by advancing from his private purse the necessaiy sum. 

6. April 17, 1,492, more than seven years after the date of his first 
apphcation, an agreement with Columbus was concluded. The ex- 
pedition was fitted out at Palos, a small town of the province of 
Andalusia ; but it was badly suited to the service for ^^nich it was 
intended. It consisted of three vessels, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, 
and the Nigna — the first of inconsiderable burthen commanded by 
Columbus as admiral ; and the two last, not superior in size to large 
boats, by two brothers, Martin and Vincent r inzon : the whole pro- 
vided with ninetv' men, and victualled for twelve months, 

7. August 3, Columbus set sail. He touched at the Canarj' islands, 
where he refitted his crazy vessels, and departed from Gomera, 
Sept. 6. Here he took his course due west, leaving the track of all 
former navigators, and stretched boldly into seas unknown. Veiy 
soon his sailors, alarmed at the distance they had proceeded wilhcut 
finding the expected land, began to mutiny, and placed Columbus in a 
situation in which any other man would have yielded to their entreaties 
to return. Fertile in expedients, possessing a thorough knowledge of 
mankind, an insinuating address, and a happy talent at governing, he 
succeeded day alter day in beguiling the discontented seamen far 
beyond their own determinations, until every succeeding hour present- 
ed stronger and stronger indications that land could lie at no great 
distance. For some days the sounding line had reached the bottom ; 
the docks of birds increased, and some of them of a kind supposed to 
fly not far from shore ; the clouds around the sun assumed a new 
appearance ; the air was more mild, and, during the night, the wind 
became unequal and variable. On the evening "of Oct. 11, he ordered 
the ships to lie to, in the fear of nmning ashore. That night Colum- 
bus observed a light, which seemed to be carried about from place to 
place ; and a little after midnight, was heard from the Finla the joyful 
cry of Land ! 

S. When the morning dawned, an island was seen about two leagues 
to the north : its verdant fields were well stored with >VGod. presenting 
the aspect of a delightful countr}^ All the boats were immediately 
manned and armed. The Spaniards rowed towards the shore with 
their colours displayed. As they approached the beach, they saw it 
covered with a multitude of people, whose attitudes and gestures dis- 
covered wonder and amazement. Columbus was the first who set foot 
on this new world which he had discovered. His men follo\\ed ; and 
all kneeling, kissed the ground that they had long desired, but never 
expected to behold : here he erected a crucifix, returned thanks to 
God, and with the usual formalities took possession of the country. 
To this island, called by the natives Guanahana, Columbus gave the 
name of St. Salvador : it is one of the large cluster called the Baha- 
mas, more than three thousand miles west, but only four degrees south 
ot Gk)mera, the port of the Canaries which he last left. 

9. After discovering several other islands, amongst which Were 
Cuba and Hayti ; and using evcr\- precaution to secure the benefit of 
a first discovery, by erecting a foit a!id leaving a party of men on the 
island ot Hayti ; on the 4th of January, 1,493, Columbus set sail for 
Lurope. The shattered condition of his vessels would have rendered 
the voyage at any time unsafe ; but a succession of storms had well 
nigh committed to the bosom of the deep, and with it the secret of 
his discover5% his little flotilla. The whole, however, arrived. 

!•». At hist it was generally supposed, from a similarity in the 



UNITED STATES. 427 

productions, that the discovered country was a part of those vast re- 
gions of Asia T comprehended under the general name of India. The 
name of India was given to it by Ferdinand and Isabella ; and, after 
the error which gave rise to the opinion was detected, the name of 
West Indies has remained, and the aborigines are called Indians. 

11. In 1,498, Columbus, on his third voyage, reached the continent, 
and landed in several places in the provinces of Paria and Cuniana. 
But he was deprived of the honour of associating his name with this 
vast portion oi the earth, being supplanted by Amerigo Vespucci, a 
native of Florence, who, in 1,499, went on a \oyage to America, and 
who published an account of his adventures so ingeniously framed as 
to make it appear that he had the gioiy of first discovering the conti- 
nent of the new world. 

12. On the 20th ot November, 1,497, Vasco de Gama, employed by 
the king of Portugal, first doubled the Cape of Good Hupe, which 
Dpened a passage to the East Imiies ; and twenty-three years after 
the first discovt;ry of America by Columbus, Magellan, a native of 
Portugal, in the service of Spain, penetrated into the Pacific ocean, 
by the strait which bears his name, situated at the southern extremity 
of the American continent. 



SECTION II. 
DISCOVERIES BY THE ENGLISH. SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

1. The English were the second people that discovered the new 
world, and the first that discovered the continent of America. On the 
24th of ^une, 1,497, Giovanni Caboto, (or Cabot.) and his son Sebas- 
tian, who were commissioned by Heniy VIII. to sail in quest of new 
countries, discovered a large island, to which they gave the name of 
Prima Vesta, or first seen ; now called Newfoundland. From this, 
they steered to the north, in search of a passage to India ; but finding 
no appearance of a passage, they tacked about, and ran as tai' as 
Florida, the island of Cuba, as he relates, being on his left. 

2. On the accession of Elizabeth to the crown of England, a period 
commenced, highly auspicious to mercantile extension. The coast of 
Labrador was explored by Martin Frobi^her, under her auspices, in 
the years 1,576 '7-'8 ; and sir Francis Drake, about this time, accom- 
plished his celebrated voyage around the globe. 

■i. In 1,584, sir Waller lialeigh, a tavourile at that time of the 
queen, despatclieil two small vessels, under the command of Philip 
Amidas and Artluii Barlow, which reached the coast of North Carolina 
on the 4th of .luly, making their passage in sixty-seven days by way 
of the Canary islands and the West Indies. On their return Amidas 
and Barlow gave a splendid description of the countiy ; of its beauty, 
fertility, mildness ot clinjate, and serenity of atmosphere ; and Eliz- 
abeth gave to the countiy the name of Virginia, as a memorial that 
this happy land was discovered under a maiden quet'h. • 

4. In 1,585, sir Walter Raleigh fitted out a squadron of seven small 
vessels, witli one hundred and eighty adventurers, which sailed Ironi 
Plymouth, under the command of sir Richard Greenville. This 
colony was left on the island of Roanoke, under the care of captaiu 
Lane ; but through bad management, turning all their attention to the 



428 UNITED STATES. 

search for gold and silver, they ^vere soon a?sailod by a two-fold 
calamity, the hostility of the natives and the prospect of famine. Sir 
Francis Drake, on his return from the West Indies, at the unanimous 
request of the cojonists, carried them back to England, and thus ended 
the ill-conducted experiment, after a trial of nine months. 

5. Early -in the following year, throe more vessels arrived at the 
same spot, with one hundred and fifty settlers. In about one monUi 
aftpr, the daughter of captain White, who commanded the expedition, 
and the wife of Ananius Dare, one of his assistants, gave birth to the 
first English female child, which was named Viiginia. Mislorlune 
pursued this infant settlement. The threatened Spani>h armada 
engrossing the attention of the parent country, the c(.)lony received no 
supplies, and the inhabitants peri>lied miserahly by lamine, or by the 
hands of their sun-ounding enemies. 

6. Sir Waiter Raleigh being engaged in other ambitious under- 
takings, so vast and various as were beyond his power to accomplish, 
and heconiing cold to the unprofitable scheme of et^eclipg settlements 
in America, assigned his interest in that country to sir Thomas Smith 
and a company of merchants in London, in 1,5%. These were satis- 
fied for the present to pursue a petty tratlic with the natives, and made 
no attempt to take possession ot the soil. 

7. But in the succeeding reign of James, who having concluded an 
amicable treaty with Spain, and terminated a tedious war, tin: period 
was more auspicious tor settlements in America. The atleiition (>( the 
monarch was called to this suljtct by the etTorts of di^tiI)gui-hed 
geographers and men of science. James divided into districts ol 
nearly equal extent, that portitn of North America which stretches 
from the o'lth to the 45th di-orree of north latitude, excepting the 
territory of any other christian prince or people already occupied : 
one called the First, or South Colony, the other the Second, or Nortli 
Colony of Virginia. In 1,606, he authorized certain gentlemen, nio>l- 
ly residents of London, to settle in a limited district of the ibrmer ; 
an equal extent of the latter he allotted to several gentlemen of 
Kristol, Plymouth, and other parts of the west of England, The-e 
grants laid the first foundation of states which in a lew centuries were 
destined to become rivals to the mother country in wealth, in science, 
and in power. 'J'he supreme government of the colonies w;.s vestid 
ill a council resident in England, to be nominated by the king ; the 
subordinate jurisdiction in a council which was to n^side in America, 
and also to be named by the cronn, and act conformably to its in- 
structions. Whatever was required for their sustenance, or for the 
.support of commerce, he permitted to be shipped from England tree 
of duty, during the space of seven years : and as an incitement to in- 
dustry, granted them the liberty of trading with other nations, appro- 
priating the duties to be laid on ibreign tratiic for twenty-one years, as 
a tiind for their exclusive benefit. 

8. A vessel of one hundred tons, and two barks, under the command 
of captain Newport, sailed with one hundred and live men, destined 
to remain in the couiitiy : among these was a Mr. Percy, brother of the 
earl of Northumberland, and several officers who had served with rep- 
uiation in the preceding reign. The first land -hat was discovered was 
a proiiiontoiy, the southern boundary of the Chesapeake, April. 1,607 : 
this was named cape Henry, in honour of the prince of Wales. The 
spacious iniet was entered, and the expedition coasted the southern 
shore, and up a river sixty miles, called by the natives Powhatan, to 
which tlie English gave the luune of Jaines river, in honour of their 



UNITED STATES. 429 

so^Treiffn. Here a site was fixed for the infant settlement, which was 
named Barnes To^vn. 

9. Imprudent in their conduct towards the natives, this feeble socie- 
ty was early involved in war. Scarcity of provisions introduced dis- 
eases ; and in a few months half their original number was swept away, 
and the remainder left sickly and dejected. 

10. The government soon devolved on captain John Smith, who 
was originally one of the council appointed by the king, but who had 
unjustly been deprived of his authority by the colonists. This gentle- 
man, who was emphatically the father of Virginia, was a native of 
Lincolnshire : he had distinguished himself in feats of courage and 
chivalry, particularly while engaged in the Hungarian army against 
the Turks. His undaunted temper, deeply tinctured with the ro- 
mantic spirit of the times, was happily adapted to the present trying 
situation of the colony. Soon after he had been called as their leader, 
while hunting in the woods, he was attacked by two hundred Indians, 
who poured in upon him a continued flight of arrows. After perlorm- 
ing wonderful feats, he smik in the unequal contest, and was made a 
prisoner. Charmed by his arts and his valour, they released him 
frotn captivity. Aftenvards he was beset by three hundred more of 
these ferocious people, pursued into a marsh, and, after he had throwr» 
away his arms, which he could no lon2:er use by reason of the cold, he 
was taken and carried in triumph to Powhatan, the principal chieftain 
of Vii-ginia. Here the doom ot death was pronounced upon him, and 
he was about to receive the fatal blow, when the favourite daughter of 
Powlutan, interposed in his behalf. This amiable child (not then 
thirteen years ot age) not only prevented the execution of Smith by 
her entreaties and tears, but caused him to be set at liberty, and sent 
him, from time to time, seasonable presents of provisions. 

11. The colony was now reduced to thirty-eight persons. Soon 
after, however, succours arrived from England, and an addition of one 
hundred new planters was added to their number. But the culture of 
the land, and other useful employments, were neglected, in the futile 
idea that gold had been discovered issuing fiom a small stream which 
emptied into James riven 'i'he etl'ects of the delusion were soon 
sevoi-ely felt in the prospect of approaching famine. In the hope of 
obtaining relief. Smith, in a small open boat, and with a t'eeble crew, 
went in search of aid from the Indians. In two difterent excursions, 
that occupied upwards of linir months, he visited all the countries on 
the eastern and western shores of the Chesapeake baj', entering the 
principal creeks, and tracing the rivers as far as their falls, ana ob- 
tained a supply of food tor the suffering colony. In these tours, he 
sailed upwards of three thousand miles, amidst almost incredible 
hardships, and brought back with him an account of that lar-ge tract of 
country, now comprehended in the two slates of Virgmia and Mary- 
land, so full and correct, that his map is the original from which all 
subsequent delineations have been formed until lately. 

1*2. About this period, the old charter being found inconvenient and 
oppressive, a new charter was granted by James, by which the boun- 
daries of the colony were enlarged ; the council inVii-ginia was abolish- 
ed, and the government vested entirely in one residing in London, the 
members of which were to be chosen by the proprietors, and these to 
nominate a governor, who was to reside in Virginia and carry their 
orders into execution. Lord Delaware was at first appointed to this 
office ; but as this nobleman could not immediately leave England, 
the power was vested in sir Thomas Gates and sir George Somers, 



430 UNITED STATES. 

who were despatclied from England with five hundred planters. A 
violent hurricane separated the fleet on their way ; and the ships with- 
out the ofiicers only arrived at James Town. Presently every thing 
was reduced to a state ot" anarchy ; captain Smith, at once the shield 
and the sword of the colony, being disabled by an accidental explosion 
of gun-powder, the wretchedness which followed is bej'ond descrip- 
tion ; and the arrival of Gates and Somers, who had been cast away 
on one of the Bermuda islands, although it saved the wretched sur- 
vivors at James Town from immediate death, was unable to preserve 
them until the autumn. Nothing remained but to seek immediate 
assistance ; and with only sixteen days' provision, the colony set sail, 
in hopes of reaching the banks of Newfoundland, and getting relief. 
But before they had arrived at the mouth of the river, they met lord 
Delaware, who biought a large supply of sustenance, new settlers, 
and eveiy thing requisite either for cultivation or defence. Under- 
llie skjltul administration of this nobleman, the colony began, once 
niDie. to assume a promising appearance. He was succeeded by sir 
Thomas Dale, who concluded a treaty of friendship with the Powha- 
tnns. ojie of the most powerful and warlike tribes ol Virginia. 

13. Pocahontas, the amiable female who had preserved the life of 
captain Smith, frequently visited the English settlements ; and during, 
Ibis intercourse, she was betrayed on board a vessel, and there im- 
prisoned. Her father, who loved her with the most ardent affection, 
was obliged to discontinue hostilities on such conditions as were dic- 
tated by his treacherous enemy. She was afterwards solicited by 
Mi-. Rolfe, a respectable planter, in marriage. Powhatan consented, 
and the marriage was celebrated with extraordinary pomp. From 
this time, the most friendly intercourse subsisted between the colonists, 
and the Indians. Rolfe and his wife went to England, where, by the 
introduction of captain Smith, Pocahontas was rt;ceived by the court 
with the respect due to her birth ; she was instructed in the christian. 
religion, and publicly baptized. About returning to Anierica, Poca-» 
hontas died at Gravesend ; leaving one son, from whom are sprung 
some of the most respectable families of Vii^inia. 

14. Hitherto no individual right of property in lands was establish-, 
od : all was holden and dealt out in common. But the governor, in 
1.616, divided a considerable extent of land into small lots, a-nd grant- 
ed one of these for ever to each individual ; fiom which period the 
colony rapidly extended. The culture of tobacco, since become the 
great staple of Virginia, ^vas introduced ; but the eager demand for 
the article in England caused for some time a scarcity of Ibod in the 
colony. 

15. About this timCj a Dutch ship Irom the coast of Guinea, having 
sailed up James river, sold to the planters a part of her negroes ; 
which race has been augmented in Virginia by successive importations 
and by natural increase, till it forms more than one third part of the 
population. 

16. In 1,619, sir George Yeardley, the governor, impelled b)' that 
popular spirit of freedom which has ever been the characteristic of 
Auiericans, called the first general assembly which was held in Vir- 
ginia. At this time eleven corporations sent representatives to the con 
vention, which was permitted to assume legislative power, the natural 
j)rivilege of man. The supreme authority was lodged partly in the 
governor, partly in a council of state appointed by the company, and 
in a general assembly, composed of representatives of the people. A 
natural effect of the happy change was an increase of agriculture^ 



UNITED STATES. 431 

The company extended the trade of the colony to Holland and other 
countries. This measure produced the first difference of sentiment 
between the colony and the parent state. Jealous at seeing* a com- 
modity, (tobacco,) for which the demand was daily increasing, con- 
ducted to foreign ports beyond its control, thereby causing a diminu- 
tion of revenue, the latter endeavoured to check this colonial enterprise, 
without considering that the restraint was a breach of the sacred prin- 
ciples of justice. 

17. The suspicion of the monarch James was soon roused, and the 
charter, by decision of the king's bench, was declared forfeit, and the 
company dissolved. Charles I. adopted all his father's maxims in 
respect to Virginia, which during a great part of his reign knew no 
other law than the royal ■will. But the colonists resisting, Charles 
3"ielded to the popular voice : he recalled Harvey, the obnoxious 
governor, and appointed sir William Berkeley, a man of great abili- 
ties, prudent, virtuous, and popular ; whose influence was directed in 
finally restoring to the people much the same share in the government 
as they had enjoyed previously lo the revocation of the charter. 

18. After the execution of the king, and the establishment of the 
commonwealth under Cromwell, through the influence of the governor, 
the colonists continued to adhere to their loyalty to the king. In 1,651, 
the English commonwealth took vigorous measures to reduce the Vir- 
ginians to obedience. A numerous squadion, with land forces, was 
despatched ibr this purpose. Berkeley resisted, but was unable to 
maintain an unequal contest, and was soon defeated. The people 
were, however, allowed to retain the privileges of citizens ; but 
Berkeley retired as a private citizen. Cromwell's parliament framed 
acts prohibiting all intercourse between the colonies and foreign states, 
and allowing no trade but in English ships. On the death of Mathews, 
the last governor appointed by Cromwell, the Virginians burst out in 
new violence. They called sir William Berkeley irom his retirement, 
boldly erected the royal standard, and proclaimed Charles II., son of 

rtheir late monarch, to be their lavt'ful sovereign, Charles was, how- 
ever, soon placed on the tlirone, and the Virginians were thus saved 
from the chastisement to which they were exposed by their previous 
declaration in his favour. But the new king and parliament rewarded 

.their fidelity by increasing the restraints upon colonial commerce ! 

13, The number of hihabitants in Virginia in 1,688, exceeded sixty 
thousand, and its population in the previous twenty-eight years was 
doubled. In 1,691, the college of William and Mary was founded. 
To aid in its erection and support, the sovereigns whose name it 

*bears, gave nearly two thousand pounds out of their private purse, and 
granted twenty thousand acres of land, and a duty on tobacco, for its 
lurdier encouragement. 



SECTION III. 



SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, CON- 
^ NECTICUT, NEW HAMPSHIRE, MAINE, MARYLAND, NORTH 
AND SOUTH CAROLINA, NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, PENN- 
SYLVANIA, DELAWARE, AND GEORGIA. 

I 1. The partition of the great territory of Vii^inla into North and 
South colonies has already been merjtioned. Still more feeble were 



432 UNITED STATES. 

the operations of the Plymouth company, to whom was assigned the 
conduct of the northern division, although animated by the zeal of sir 
John Pophara, chief justice of England, sir Ferdinando Gorges, and 
other public spirited gentlemen of the west. r , j 

2, In the year 1,607, the same in which James Town was lounded, 
a small settlement was commenced on the river Sagadahoc, now called 
the Kennebec ; but this was soon abandoned. Some fishing vessels 
visited Cape Cod several time? ; among them, one commanded by 
captain Smith, who returned with a high-wrought description of the 
coast and countiy : exhibiting a map of the bays, harbours, &c., on 
which he inscribed " New England ;" the prince of Wales, delighted 
with the representations of Smith, immediately confirmed the name. 

3. To the operations of religion, rather than to the desire of pecu- 
niary emolument, are the various .settlements of New England indebt- 
ed lor their origin. The sacred rights of conscience and of private 
judgment were not then propeily uiiderslood ; nor was the charity 
and mutual forbearance taught christians by their divine master prac- 
tised in any countrj'. Every chui'ch employed the hand of power in 
supporting its own doctrines, and opposing the tenets of another. In 
reforming the rituals and exterior symbols of the church of England, 
Elizabeth, lest by too wide a departure from the Romish church she 
might alarm the populace, had allowed many of the ancient ceremonies 
to remain unaltered. With several of these a large number of her 
subjects being dissatisfied, they wished to address their Creator ac- 
cording to their own opinions, but were subjected to veiy rigorous 
penalties. Those who dissented from the established church obtained 
the genera! name of Puriians, a term applied to them because they 
wished for a purer form of discipline and worship. Among the most 
popular and strenuous declaimers against the established church were 
the Brownists, a sect formed about 1,581, by Robert Brown, who after- 
wards renounced his principles of separation, and took orders in the 
church against which he had so loudly declaimed. The Rev. John 
Robinson, the father of the first settlement of New England, is said to 
have been a follower of Brown, but afterwards renounced the principles 
of the Brownists, and became the founder of a new sect, denominated 
Independetits.* Mr. Robinson affirmed that all christian congregations 
were so many independent religious societies, that had a right to be 
governed by their own laws, independent of any foreign jurisdiction. 
Being persecuted in England, he, with many others embracing his 
opinions, removed to Holland, where they formed churches upon their 
own principles. Remaining there some years, the society were de- 
sirous to remove to some other place : they turned their thoughts to 
America, and applied to James, who though he refused to give them 
any positive assurance of toleration, seems to have intimated some 
promise of passive indulgence. 

* By several respectable historians of this country, the Independents 
have been connected with the Brownists, between the opinions and prac- 
tices of whom was a wide difference. The Independents excelled the 
Brownists in the moderation of their sentiments, and in the order of their 
discipline. They possessed candour and charity, believing- that true re- 
ligion and solid piety might flourish in those communities under the juris- 
diction of bishops, or the governments of synods or presbyteries. They 
approved of a, regular ministry. While the Brownists allowed promiscu- 
ously all ranks and orders of men to teach in public, the Independents re- - 
quired a proper examination of the capacity and talents of their teachers. ' 



UNITED STATES. 433 

4. They readily procured a tract of land from the Plymouth com- 
pany. One hundred and twenty persons sailed from Plymouth in 
1,620, their destination being Hudson's river : by some treachery of 
the Dutch, who then contemplated and afterwards effected a settlement 
at that place, they were carried to the north, and landed on cape Cod, 
the eleventh of November of that year. They chose for their resi- 
dence a place called by the Indians Patuxet, to Avhich they gave the 
name of New Plymouth. Before spring, half their number were cut 
off by famine or disease. In a few days after they landed, captain 
Standish was engaged in skirmishing with the Indians ; and the many 
disasters which tollowed, together with the implacable hostility of the 
Indians, which always has subsisted, are perhaps more owing to the 
imprudence of the first settlers, than to the bad disposition of the 
natives. 

5. This colony, like that of Virginia, at first held their goods and 
property in common ; and their progress was retarded as well by this 
circumstance, as by the impulse of imaginary inspiration, which reg- 
ulated all their actions. At the end of ten years, these well meaning 
people, when they became incorporated with their more powerful 
neighbours of Massachusetts bay, .did, not exceed three hundred. 

6. In tlie year 1,629, Mr. White, a non-conformist minister at 
Dorchester, having formed an association, purchased from the Ply- 
mouth company alract extending in length from three miles north of 
Merrimack river to three miles south of Charles river, and in breadth 
from the Atlantic to the Southern ocean ; and obtained a charter from 
Charles, similar to that given to the two Virginian companies by James. 
Five ships were fitted out, on board of which were embarked upwards 
of three hundred souls, amongst whom were several eminent non- 
conforming ministers. On their arrival, they found the remnant of a 
small party that had left England the preceding year, under the con- 
duct of Mr. Endicott, who had been appointed by his companions 
deputy governor. They were settled at a place called by the Indians 
Naumkeag, to which he had given the scripture name of Salem. The 
new colonists immediately formed a church, elected a pastor, teacher, 
and elder, disregarding the intentions of the king. They disencum- 
bered their public worship of every superfluous ceremony, and re- 
duced it to the lowest standard of calvinistic simplicity. 

But much as we respect that noble spirit which enabled them to part 
with their native soil, we must condemn the persecuting spirit of the 
colonists themselves. Some of the colonists, retaining a high venera- 
tion for the ritual of the church of England, refused to join the colonial 
state establishment, and assembled separately to worship : Endicott 
called before him two of the principal offenders, expelled them from 
the colony, and sent them home in the first ships returning to England. 

7. The government of the colony was soon transferred to America, 
and vested in those members of the company who should reside there. 
John Winthrop was appointed governor, and Thomas Dudley deputy 
governor, with eighteen assistants. In the course of the next year, 
1,630, fifteen hundred persons arrived in Massachusetts from England, 
amongst whom were several distinguished families, some of them in 
easy, and others in affluent circumstances ; and Boston, Cfaarlestown, 
Dorchester, Roxbury, and other towns, were settled. 

8. The first general court, held at Charlestown, ventured to deviate 
from their charter in a matter of great moment: a law was passed, 
declaring that none should be freemen, or be entitled to any share in 
ihe government, except those who had been received as members of 

O 55 



434 UNITED STATES. 

the church. The fanatical spirit continued to increase. A minister 
of Salem, named Roger Williams, having conceived an aversion to 
the cross of St. George, a symbol in the English standard, declaimed 
against it with great vehemence, as a relic of superstition ; and Lndi- 
cott, in a transport of zeal, cut out the cross from the ensign disp ayed 
before the governor's gate. This frivolous matter divided the colony ; 
but the matter was at length compromised by retaining the cross in 
the ensigns of forts and vessels, and erasing it from the colours ol Uie 

militia. ,^01 j • j 

9. In 1,636, Williams was banished from Salem; and, accompanied 
by many of his hearers, the exile went south, purchased a tract of 
land of the natives, to which he gave the name of Providence ; and a 
Mr. Coddington, with seventj'-six others, exiled from Boston, bought 
a fertile island on Narraganset bay, that acquired the name of Rhode- 
Island. Mr. Coddington embraced the sentiments of the Quakers, or 
Friends ; he received a charter from the British parliament, m which 
it was ordered, that " none were ever to be molested for any difteience 
of opinion in religious matters :" yet, the very first assembly conven- 
ed under this authority, excluded Roman catholics from voting at 
elections, and from every office in the government ! 

10. To similar causes the state of Connecticut is indebted for its 
origin. Mr. Hooker, a favourite minister of Massachusetts, with 
about one liundred families, after a fatiguing march, settled on the 
western side of the river Connecticut, and laid the tbundation of Hart- 
ford, Springfield, and Weathersfield. Their right to this territory 
was disputed by the Dutch, who had settled at the mouth of the 
Hudson, and by the lords Say-and-Seal and Brook, who had com- 
menced the settlement called Say-Brook. The Dutch were soon ex- 
pelled ; and the others uniting with the colony, all were incorporated 
by a royal charter. 

11. New-Hampshire was first settled in the spring of 1,623, under 
the patronage of sir Ferdinando Goigcs, captain John Mason, and 
several others, who sent over David Thompson, a Scot, Edward and 
William Hilton, and a number of people, furnished with the requisite 
supplies. One company landed at a place called Little Harbour ; the 
others settled at Dover. Mr. Wheelwright, a clei^inan banished from 
Massachusetts, founded Exeter, in 1,638, 

12. Maine was not permanently settled until 1,635. Gorges ob- 
tained a grant of this territory, which remained under its own govern- 
ment until 1,652, when its soil and jurisdiction, as far as the middle of 
Casco bay, was claimed by Massachusetts. 

13. The mutual hostility of the English and Indians commenced 
with the first settlement ; but it was not until the year 1,637, that a 
systematic warfare was begun. The Pequods, who brought into the 
field more than a thousand warriors, were exterminated in a few 
months by the combined troops of Massachusetts and Connecticut. 
In the night, the Pequods were attacked, near the head of Mistic, by 
the Connecticut troops and Narraganset Indians, commanded by cap- 
tain Mason : in a few moments, five or six hundred lay gasping in 
their blood, or were silent in the arms of death. " The darkness, of 
the forest," observes a New-England author, " the blaze of the 
dwellings, the ghastly looks of the dead, the groans of the dying, the 
shrieks of the women and children, the yells of the friendly savages, 
presented a scene of sublimity and terror indescriljably dreadful." 

14. In 1,643, an alliance lor mutual defence was formed between the 
New-England colonies, excepting Rhode-Island, which Massachusetts 



UNITED STATES. 435 

was unwilling to admit. This alliance continued until the charters 
were annulled by James the second. 

15. Up to 1,638, twenty-one thousand British subjects had settled 
jn New-England ; and the country had begun to extend the fisheries, 

and to export corn and lumber to the West Indies. In 1,656, the per- 
secution ol the Quakers was at its height. A number of these inoffen- 
sive people having arrived in the Massachusetts colony, from England 
and Barbadoes, and given offence to the clergy ot the established 
church by the novelty of their religion, were imprisoned, and by the 
first opportunity sent away. A law was passed, which prohibited 
masters of ships from bringing Quakers into Massachusetts, and them- 
selves from coming there, under a graduated penalty, rising, in case 
of a return from banishment, to death. In consequence, several were 
hanged ! These proceedings are still the more reprehensible and re- 
niarkable, when contrasted with a previous declaration of their govern- 
ment, which tendered " hospitality and succour to all christian 
strangers, flying iVom wars, lamine, or the tyranny of persecution." 
The anabaptists were also persecuted ; many were disfranchised, and 
some were banished. 

16. On the accession of James II., several of the New-England 
colonies were deprived of their charters ; but these, with various un- 
important modifications, were restored after the revolution. Sir 
William Phipps, a native of Maine, who rose to wealth and power in 
a manner the most extraordinary, was the first governor vi' Massachu- 
setts under the new charter. W ith a force of seven hundred men, he 
wrested from the French, L'Acadie, now called Nova Scotia. He 
afterwards made an unsuccessful attempt on Quebec, with the loss of 
one thousand men. The new charter, whilst it curtailed the liberties, 
extended the territoiy of Massachusetts ; to it were now annexed New 
Plymouth, Maine, and Nova Scotia, with all the country between the 
latter and the river St. Lawrence ; also Elizabeth islands, Martha's 
Vineyard, and Nantucket. The people, however, had just reason to 
complain that they no longer chose their governor, under whose control 
was the militia, and who levied taxes without their consent, and tried 
capital otVences. 

17. About this time the pillars of society were shaken to the foun- 
dation, in and about Salem, by imaginary witchcraft. The delusion 
commenced at Salem village, now Daiivers, in the family of Rev. 
Samuel Paris. Two young girls, one a daughter of Mr. Paris, aged 9 ; 
the other a niece, aged 11, were affected with singular nervous dis- 
orders, which, as they baffled the skill of the physician, were thought 
to proceed from an " evil hand." The children were believed by 
the neighbours to be bewitched, and the belief, sanctioned by the 
opinion of the physician, became general throughout the vicinity. 
The more the girls were noticed and pitied, the more singular and 
extravagant was their conduct. Upon the advice of the neighbouring 
ministers, two or three private fasts were first kept ; afterwards a pub- 
lic one in the village and other congregations ; and finally, the general 
court appointed a fast through the colony. This course gave the 
occurrences a solemn aspect, ami probably contributed to the public 
credulity, till the supposed witchcraft had extended throughout a gieat 
part of the county ol Essex. The infatu ition prevailed from March 
to October, 1,692, during which time twenty persons, men and women, 
were executed. It was then that suspicion roused frc)m its lethargy ; 
condemnation ceased ; the accusers were silent ; those under sentence 
were reprieved, and afterwards pardoned. 



436 UNITED STATES. 

18. In the years 1,627 and '38, '63 and '70, New-England expe- 
rienced violent earthquakes. In the year 1,638, Harvard college, 
near Boston, the oldest seminary of learning in the United States, was 
ibunded. Four hundred pounds were voted to it by the general court ; 
and this sum was nearly doubled by a bequest from Mr. John Harvard, 
a minister of Charlestown. This institution is now the most richly 
endowed of all the American colleges. Yale college, at New-Haven, 
was founded in 1,701, ten years after that of William and Mary, in 
Virginia ; and Dartmouth college, in New-Hampshire, was founded 
in 1,769. The first printing press established in the British colonies 
was in 1,639, at Cambridge, superintended by Stephen Daye ; but 
erected chicliy at the expense of Mr. Glover, an English clei?:yman, 
who died on his passage to America. 

19. Maryland, the first colony that, from its beginning, was directly- 
governed as a province of the British empire, was founded by sir 
George Calvert, baron of Baltimore, in Ireland ; a Roman catholic 
iiobleman, born in England. He first went to Virginia ; but meeting 
an unwelcome reception there, on account of his religion, he fixed his 
attention to the lands north of the Potomac, and obtained a grant of 
them from Charles I. This countiy was called Maryland, in honour 
of the queen, Henrietta Maria, The religious toleration established 
by the charter, the first draft of which is said to have been written by 
sir Geoige himself, is honourable to his memory. The grant was 
given to his eldest son, Cecilius, who succeeded to his title.s ; but 
Leonard Calvert, brother to Cecilius, was the first governor, and mada 
ihe first stand, at an island in the Potomac, which he named St. 
Clements, in 1,633. He made several purchases of the Indians, with 
whom he cultivated a constant friendship, as well on the Potomac, as 
on both shores of the Chesapeake. Never did any people enjoy more 
happiness than the inhabitants of Maiyland. Whilst Vii-ginia harass- 
ed all who dissented from the English church, and the northern colonies 
all who dissented from the puritans, the Roman catholics of Maryland, 
a sect who in the old world never professed tiie doctrine of toleration, 
received and protected their brethren of eveiy christian church, and 
its population was rapidly increased. 

20. About the middle of the seventeenth century, some emigrants, 
chiefly from Viiginia, began a settlement in the county of Albemarle ; 
and soon afterwards, another establishment was commenced at cape 
Fear, by adventurers from Massachusetts. These were held together 
by the laws of nature, without any written code, for some time. But 
Charles II. compelled the colonists to become subservient to his rule, 
and granted to lord Clarendon and others the tract of land which now 
composes North and South Carolina : perfect freedom in religion was 
granted in the charter. The first settlement was placed under the 
command of sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia, who assigned 
his authority to Mr. Drummond. In 1,761, the proprietors extended 
their settlements to the banks of Ashley and Cooper rivers, where 
Charleston now stands ; and eventually this became the separate stale 
of South Carolina. The culture of cotton commenced here in 1,700, 
and that of indigo in 1,748. 

21. New-York was first settled by the Dutch, and was by them 
held for about half a century. It was, however, claimed by England 
as the first discoverer. Peter Stuyvesant, the third and last Dutch 
governor, began his administration in 1,647, and was distinguished no 
less for his fidelity than his vigilance. In 1 ,664 the colony surrendered 
to the Englisli ; and the whole territoiy now comprising New-York, 



UNITED STATES. 437 

New-Jersey, together with Pennsylvania, Delaware, and a part of 
Connecticut, was assigned by Charles II. to his brother the duke of 
York. The Dutch inhabitants remained ; Stuyvesant retained his 
estate, and died in the colony. The country was governed by the 
duke's officers until 1,688 ; when representatives of the people were 
allowed a voice in the legislature. 

22. In 1,664, the duke of York sold that part of his grant now call- 
ed New-Jersey to lord Berkeley and sir George Carteret. It had 
previously been settled by Hollanders, Swedes, and Danes. The 
county of Bei^en was the first inhabited ; and very soon tlie towns of 
Elizabeth, Newark, Middleton, and Shrewsbury were settled. The 
college, originally established at Newark, was, in 1,748, finnll)' fixed 
at Princeton : its chief benefactor was governor Belcher. Anioiig the 
governors of New-Jersey was the celebrated Barclay, autlior of llie 
Apology for the Quakers, of which sect a large number had establish- 
ed themselves there. 

23. Pennsylvania was founded by^ William Penn, son of a distin- 
guished admiral of the same name. From principle this excellent 
man joined the Quakers, then an obscure and persecuted sect. As 
line ot the members, and a preaciier. Penn was repeatedly imprisoned ; 
iiut he plead his own cause with great boldness, and procured his own 
acquittal from an independent jury, who with himself were imprisoned 
until an unjust penalty was paid. In 1,681, he purchased of Charles 
the tract now called Pennsylvania, for an acquittance of sixteen thou- 
sand pounds due to his lather ; arid soon atter, he obtained Irom the 
duke of York a conveyance of the town of New-Castle, with the 
country wliirh now tbrms the state of Delaware. The first colony, 
who were chiefly of his own sect, began their settlement above the 
confluence of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. In Ausrust, 1,682, 
(his amiable man embarked, with about two thousand emigrants, a.id 
in October, arrived in the Delaware. Besides his own people, he 
was aided in the first settlement by Swedes, Dutch, Finlanders, an.l 
other English. The first legislative assembly was held at Chester, at 
that time called Upland. Among the first laws was one which de- 
clared " that none, acknowledging one God, and living peaceably in 
society, should be molested tor his opinions or his practice : nor be 
compelled to trequent or maintain any ministr>- whatever." Philadel- 
phia was begun in 1.683 ; and in 1,699, it contained seven hundred 
houses, antl about tour thousand inhabitants. During; the first seventy 
yeai-s of this settlen)ent, no instance occurred of the Indians killing 
unarmed people. The wise and good Jiian, Penn, made every exer- 
tion and sacrifice to promote the peace and prosperity of his favourite 
colony ; and between the persecution he had to encounter in England 
and the ditficulties in Pennsylvania, his life was a continued scene of 
vexation — his private tbrtune was materially injured by the advances 
he made — he was harassed by his creditors, and obliged to undergo a 
temporary deprivation of his personal liberty. He died in London, in 
1,718, leaving an inheritance to his children, ultimately of immense 
value, which they enjoyed until tlie revolution, when it was assigned 
to the commonwealtli lor an equitable sum of money. In the interval 
between 1,730 and the war ol the revolution, in this state, there was a 
great influx of emigrants, principally from Germany and Ireland : and 
these people early brought the useful arts and manufactures into Penn- 
sylvania. To the Germans, she is indebted for the spinning and 
weaving of linen and woollen cloths ; to the Irish, for various trades 
indispensable to useful agricullkue. 

Oo2 



438 UNITED STATES. 

24. Delaware was first settled in 1,627, by the Swedes and Fin- 
landers, and the colony bore the name of New-Sweden. It was 
afterwards conquered by the Dutch from New- York, and remained 
subservient to that colony until it passed into the hands of the 
English. 

23. Georgia was the last settled of the thirteen colonies that re- 
volted from Britain. It received its name from Geoi^e II. In 
November, 1,732, one hundred and sixteen persons embarked at 
Gravesend, under general Oglethorpe ; and early in the ensuing year 
arrived at Charleston. From this port they proceeded to their destin- 
ed territory, and laid the foundation of Savannah. The Spaniards 
laid claim to this territory, and made extensive preparations to attack 
it. But through the finesse of Oglethorpe in practising an innocent 
deception, their plans were defeated. For many years, this settle- 
ment languished from a variety of causes. General Oglethorpe was 
distinguished as a soldier, a statesman, and a philanthropist. At the 
beginning of the American revolution, he was ofi'ered the command of 
the British army in America, but this from principle he declined. 
After the contest was decided, he died at the age of ninety-seven 
years, being the oldest general in the British service. 



SECTION IV. 

WAR WITH FRANCE, AND CONQUEST OF CANADA. DIS- 
PUTES WITH GREAT BRITAIN, AND WAR OF THE REVO- 
LUTION. 

1. Nearly coeval with the first English settlement at James Town, 
in Virginia, was the establishment of a French colony at Quebec, on 
the great river St. Lawrence. The question of boundaiy between 
England and France, had long been a subject of unavailing negotia- 
tion. France, beside having Canada in the north, had also discovered 
and settled on Mississippi in the south ; and in 1,753, she strove, by a 
military chain, the links ot which were to be formed by outposts 
.stretching along the Ohio and the lakes, to connect these two extrem- 
ities, and thus restrain the Briti«h colonists to a small territory on the 
Atlantic ocean, if not entirely expel them from the countiy. The 
question ol jurisdiction remained to be decided by the sword. Re- 
peated complaints of violence having come to the ears of the governor 
of Virginia, he determined to send a suitable person to the French 
commandant at fort Du Quesne, (now Pittsburgh,) demanding the 
reason of his hostile proceedings, and insisting that he should evacuate 
the fort which he had recently erected. For this arduous undertaking, 
George Washington, a major of militia, then little more than twenty- 
one years of age, offered his services. The execution of this task 
seems to have been accomplished with all that piudence and courage 
which were so eminently displayed by this hero in after life. At 
imminent peril, being waylaid and fired at by Indians, he not only 
faithfully accomplished the errand on which he had been sent, but 
gained extensive information of the distances and bearings ol places, 
and of the number, size, and strength of nearly all the enemy's 
fortresses. 

2. The reply of the French commander brought matters to a crisis ; 
and in 1,754, the Virginian assembly organized a regiment, to support 



UNITED STATES. 439 

the claims of the English over the territory in dispute : of this regi- 
ment a Mr. Fry was appointed colonel, and the young Washington 
lieutenant colonel. Colonel Fry dying, the command of the whole 
devolved on Washington. The French having been strongly rein- 
forced, Washington was obliged to fall back, was attacked in works 
which he had not time to complete, and, after a brave defence, was 
obliged to capitulate ; the enemy allowing him to marcli out with the 
honours of war, and to retire unmolested to the inliabited parts of 
Virginia. 

3. The next year, 1,755, general Braddock was sent from Europe 
to Virginia, with two regiments, where he was joined by as many 
provincials as made his force amount to twenty-two hundred. Brad- 
dock was a brave man, but lacked tliat courtesy which could conciliate 
the Americans, and that modesty which should profit from the knowl- 
edge of those who better knew the ground river which he was to pass, 
and the mode of Frencli and Indian warfare, than himself. JHe push- 
ed on incautiously, until, within a few miles of Ibrt Du Quesne, he fell 
into an ambush of French and Indians, In a short time, Washington, 
who acted as aid to Braddock, aud' whose duty called him to be on 
horseback, was the only person mounted who was left alive, or not ' 
wounded. The van of the army was forced back, and the whole 
thrown into confusion. The slaughter was dreadful. Braddock was 
mortally wounded. What was remarkable, the provincial troops pre- 
served their order, and covered the retreat under Washington ; while 
the regulars broke their ranks, and could not be rallied. 

4. (Three successive campaigns procured nothing but expense and 
disappointment to the English. With an inferior force, the French 
had succeeded in every campaign ; and gloomy apprehensions were 
entertained as to the destiny of the British colonics. But in l,756<a 
change of ministry in England took place. William Pitt was ])lace"d 
at Ihe helm. To despair, succeeded hope ; and to hope, victory. 
Supplies were granted with liberality, and given without reluctance ; 
soldiers enlisted freely, and fought with enthusiasm. In a short time, 
the French were dispossessed, not only of all the territories in dispute, 
but of Quebec, and her ancient province of Canada ; so that all which 
remained to her of her numerous settkments In North America, was 
New-Orleans, with a lew plantations on the Mississippi. Full of 
youth and spirit, the gallant general Wolfe, who led the European and 
colonial troops to victoiy, fell before the walls of Quebec, in the 
moment of success. In 1,762, hostilities having raged nearly eight 
years, a general peace was concluded : France ceded Canada, and 
Spain relinquished, as the price of recosering Havana, which had 
been taken by tht; I3ritish, both the Florid;is {o Great Britain. 

5. Although the American colonies had principally contributed to 
the great extension of the power of Great Britain, co-operating with 
the vigilance of more than four hundred cruiscis on the sea, and 
furnishing more than twenty-four thousand soldiers; yet the latter re- 
garded her plantations as mere instruments in her hands. On the 
contrary, the high sentiments of liberty and independence nurtured in 
the colonies from tlicir local situation and habits, >vere increased by 
the removal of hoslile neighbours. Ideas favourable io independence 
increased; and whilst combustible materials were collecting in the 
new world, a brand to enkindle them was preparing in the old. 

6. In 1,765, under the auspices of the ministe). George Grenville, 
the obnoxiyus stamp act passed in the British pailiament ; by which 
the instruments of writing iji daily use were to be null and void, unless 



440 UNITED STATES. 

■executed on paper or parchment stamped with a specific duty : law 
documents, leases, deeds, and indentures, newspapers and advertise- 
ments, almanacs and pamphlets, executed and printed in America — 
all must contribute to the British treasury. The bill did not pass 
without the decided opposition of patriots in the British legislature, 
who foretold the result, and who declared that, the colonies being 
planted by British oppression, and having assisted the inother country, 
that the mother had no claim on the child to derive from it a revenue. 
The bill did not take effect until seven months after its passage ; thus 
giving the colonists an opportunity of leisurely examining and viewing 
the subject on every side. They were struck with silent consterna- 
tion ; but the voice of opposition was first heard in Vii'ginia. Patrick 
Heniy, on the 20th of May, brought into the house of btirgesses in 
that colony a number of resolutions, which were adopted, and which 
concluded with declaring, " That every individual, who, by speaking 
or acting, should assert or maintain, that any pei'son or body of men, 
except the general assembly of the province, had any right to impose 
taxation there, should be deemed an enemy to his majesty's colony." 
These resolutions v\ere immediately disseminated through the other 
provinces ; the tongues and the pens of well-informed men laboured 
in the holy cause — the fire of liberty blazed forth Irom the press. The 
assembly of Massachusetts passed a resolution in favour of a continental 
congress, and fixed a day lor its meeting at New- York, in October. 
The other colonies, with the exception of four, accepted this invita- 
tion, and assembled at the appointed place. Here they agreed on a 
declaration of their rights. There was, however, a considerable de- 
gree of timiditj- evinced in this congress. The boldest and most im- 
pressive arguments were offered bj' James Otis of Massachusetts. 

7. The time arrived lor the act to take effect ; and the aversion to 
it was expressed in still stronger terms throughout the colonies. By a 
common consent, its provisions were disregarded, and business was 
conducted, in defiance of the parliament, as if no stamp act was in 
existence : associations were formed against importing British manu- 
factures until the law should be repealed ; and lawyei-s were prohib- 
ited from instituting any action for money due to any inhabitant of 
England. The spirited conduct of the colonists, affecting the interests 
of the British merchants, had the desired effect. Warm discussions 
took place in the British parliament , and the ablest speakers in both 
houses denied the justice of taxing the colonies. The opposition 
couid not be withstood ; and in March, 1,766, the law was repealed. 

0. Simultaneously, however, with repealing this act, the British 
parliament passed another, declaring that theBritish parliament had 
a right to make laws binding the colonics in all cases whatever ; and 
soon after another bill was passed, imposing in the colonies duties on 
glass, paper, painters' colours, and tea. The fire of opposition was 
novv rekindled with adtiitional ardour, by the same principle, exhibited 
in its new form. The best talents throughout the colonies were 
engaged, in the public prints and in pamphlets, to work up the public 
feeling against the arbitrary measures of the British parliament. New 
associations were formed to suspend the importation of British manu- 
factures. The Massachusetts assembly, having passed resolutions to 
this etfect, drew forth the marked displeasure of the crown ; and, on 
their relusal to cancel their resolutions, were dissolved. 

9. In 1,768, Mr. Hancock's sloop Liberty was seized at Boston, for 
not enteruig all the wines she had brought from Madeira : this inflamed 
the populace to a high degree of resentment. Soon afterwards, two 



UNITED STATES. 441 

British regiments, and sqme armed vessels, were sent to Boston, to 
assist the revenue officers. The parliament, encouraged by the ex- 
pectation of quelling the refractory by their arms, continued to dis- 
solve the opposing assemblies ; but the colonies remained firm in their 
purposes. 

10. Lord North succeeded the duke of Grafton, as British premier) 
in 1,770 ; and the act was repealed imposing a duty on glass, paper, 
and painters' colours ; but that on tea was retained., Some slight 

Erospect of allaying the difficulties succeeded. But on the second of 
larch an affray took place in Boston, between a private soldier and 
an inhabitant. This was succeeded, in a few days afterwards, by a 
mob meeting a party of British soldiers under arms, who were dared 
to fire, and who at length did fire, and killed five persons. The cap- 
fain who commanded, and the troops who fired, were afterwards tried 
for murder, and acquitted. 

11. Things continued in this mode of partial irritation until 1,773, 
when the British East India Gompany were authorized to export their 
tea to all places, free of duty. As this would enable them to sell that 
article cheaper in America, with the government exactions, than they 
had before sold it without them, it was confidently calculated that teas 
might be extensively disposed of in the colonies. Large cc>nsignments 
of tea were sent to various parts, and agents appointed for its disposal. 
The consignees, in several places, were compelled to relinquish their 
appointments. Popular vengeance prevented the landing at New- 
York or Philadelphia. In Boston it was otherwise. The tea lor the 
supply of that port was consigned to the sons and particular friends of 
governor Hutchinson. .The tea was h:nded by the strenuous exertions 
of the governor an(i consignees. But soon a party of men, dressed as 
Indians, boarded the tea ships, broke open the cargui.s, and threw the 
contents into the sea. Enraged against the people of Boston, the par- 
liament resolved to take legislative vengeance on that devoted town. 
Disregarding the forms of the British constitution, by which none are 
to be punished without trial, they passed a bill, closing, in a commer- 
cial sense, its port : its custom house and trade were soon after re- 
moved to Salem. Th* charter of the colony was new modelled, so 
that the whole executive government was taken from the people, and 
the nomination to all important offices vested in the crown ; and it was 
enacted, that if any person was indicted for any capital offence com- 
mitted in aiding the magistrates, he might be sent to Great Britain or 
another colony for trial. Property, liberty, and life, were thus subject 
to ministerial caprice. The parliament went still further, and passed 
an act extending the boundaries of Canada, southward to the Ohio, 
westward, to the Mississippi, and northward, to the borders of the 
Hudson's bay company, assimilating its laws with the French, which 
dispensed with the trial by juiy, and rendering the ijiliabitants passive 
agents in the hands of power. 

12. The flame was now kindled in every breast ; and associations 
were formed, and committees of correspondence were established, 
which produced a unity of thought and action throughout the colonies. 
General Gage, the British commander-in-chief, arrived in Boston, in 
1,774, with more troops, with the avowed intention of dragooning the 
refractory Bostonians into compliance. A general sympathy was 
excited for the suffering inhabitants of Boston : addresses poured in 
from all quarters ; Marblehead offered to the Boston merchants the 
use of her wharves, and Salem refused to adopt the trade, the offer of 
which had been proffered as a temptation to her cupidity. Affairs 

56 



442 UNITED STATES. 

rapidly approached a crisis. The preparations for offence and defence, 
induced general Gage to fortify Boston, and to seize on the powder 
lodged at the arsenal at Charlestown. 

13. In September, deputies from most of the colonies met in con- 
gress, at Philadelphia, These delegates approved of the conduct of 
the people of Massachusetts ; wrote a letter to general Gage ; pub^ 
lished a declaration of rights ; formed an association not to import or 
use British goods ; sent a petition to the king of Great Britain ; an 
address to the inhabitants of that kingdom ; another to the inhabitants 
of Canada ; and another to the inhabitants of the colonies. In the 
beginning of the next year, (l,775,) was passed the fishery bilU by 
which the northern colonies were forbidden to fish on the banks of 
Newtoundland for a certain time. This bore hard upon the commerce 
of these colonies, which was in a great measure supported by the 
fisheiy. 

14. Soon after, another bill was passed, which restrained the trade 
of the middle and southern colonies to Great Britain, Ireland, and the 
West Indies, except under certain conditions. These repeated acts 
of oppression on the part of Great Britain, alienated the aflieclions of 
America from her parent and sovereign, and produced a combined 
opposition to the whole system of taxation. Preparations began to be 
made to oppose by force the execution of these acts of parliament. 
The militia of the country were trained to the use of arms — great 
encouragement was given to tlic manufacture of gunpowder, and 
measures were taken to obtain all kinds of military stores. 

15. In February, colonel Leslie was sent with a detachment of 
troops from Boston, to take possession of some cannon at Salem. But 
the people had intelligence of the design — took up the drawbridge in 
that town, and prevented the troop; from passing, until the cannon 
were secured ; so that the expedition tailed. In April, colonel Smith 
and major Pitcairn were sent with a body of troops, to destroy the 
militaiy stores which had been collected at Concord, about twenty 
miles iVom Boston. At Lexington the militia were collected on a 
green, to oppose the incursion of the British forces. These were fired 
upon by the British troops, and eight men killed on the spot. 

16. Tire militia were dispersed, and the troops proceeded to Con- 
cord ; where they destroyed a few stores. But on their return they 
were incessantly harassed by the Americans, who, inflamed with just 
resentment, fired upon them from houses and fences, and pursued them 
to Boston. Here was spilt ihe first blood in the war which severed 
America from the British empire, Lexington opened the first scene 
of the great drama, which, in its prt^ress, exhibited the most illustri- 
ous characters and events, and closed with a revohition, equally 
glorious for the actors, and important in its consequences to the human 
race. This battle roused all America. The militia collected from 
all quarters, and Boston was in a few days besieged by twenty thou- 
sand men, A stop was put to all intercourse between the town and 
country, and the inhabitants were reduced to great want of provisions. 
General Gage promised to let the people depart, if they would deliver 
up their arms. The people complied ; but when the general had 
obtained their arms, the perfidious wretch refused to let the people go. 

17. In the mean time, a small number of men, under the command 
of colonel Allen and colonel Easton, without any public orders, sur- 
prised and took the British garrison at Ticonderoga, without the loss 
of a man, 

18. In June following, our troops attempted to fortify Bunker's bill, 



UNITED STATES. 443 

which lies in Charlestovvn, and but a mile and a half from Boston. 
They had, during the night, thrown up a small breastwork, which 
sheltered them irom the fire of the British cannon. But the next 
morning, the British anriy was sent to drive them from the hill ; and 
landing under cover of their cannon, they set fire to Charlestown, which 
was consumed, and marched to attack our troops in the entrenchments. 
A severe engagement ensued, in which the British suffered a very- 
great loss, both of officers and privates. They were repulsed at first, 
and thrown into disorder ; but they finally carried the fortification 
with the point of the bayonet. The Americans suflfered a small loss 
compared with the British ; but the death of the brave general Warren, 
who tell in the action, a martyr to the cause of his country, was severe- 
ly I'olt and universally lamented. 

19. About this time, the continental congress appointed George 
Washington, Esq. to the chief command of the continental army. 
This gentleman had been a distinguished and successful officer in the 
preceding war, and he seemed destined by Heaven to be the saviour 
of his countiy. He accepted the appointment with a diffidence which 
was a proot of his prudence and his greatness. He refiised any pay 
for eight years' laborious and arduous service ; and by his matchless 
skill, ibrtitude, and perseverance, conducted America, through inde- 
scribable difficulties, to independence and peace. While true merit is 
esteemed, or virtue honoured, mankind will never cease to revere the 
memoiy of this hero ; and while gratitude remains in the human 
breast, the praises of Washington shall dwell on every American 
tongue. 

20. General Washington, with other officei-s appointed by congress, 
arrived at Cambridg<% and took command of the American army in 
July. From this time, the affiiirs of America began to assume the 
appearance of a regular and general opposition to the forces of Great 
Britain. 

21. In autumn, a body of troops, under the command of general 
Montgomery, besieged and took the garrison at St. John's, which 
commands the entrance into Canada. The prisoners amounted to 
atjout seven hundred. General Montgomery pursued his success, and 
took Montreal, and designed to push his victories to Quebec. A body 
of troops, commanded by Arnold, was ordei'ed to march to Canada, 
by the river Kennebec, and through the wilderness. After sufTeririg 
every hardship, and the most distressing hunger, they arrived in 
Canada, and were joined by general Montgomery', before Quebec. 
This city, which was commanded by governor Carleton, was imme- 

' diately besieged; But there being little hope of taking the town by 
I a siege, it was determined to stor-m it. The attack was made on the 
last day of December, but proved unsuccessful, and fatal to the brave 
general, who, with his aid, was killed in attempting to scale the walls. 
Of the three divisions which attacked the town, one only entered, and 
that was compelled to surrender to superior force. After this defeat, 
Arnold, who now commanded the tr-oops, continued some months before 
Quebec, although his troops suffered incredibly by cold and sickness. 
But the next spring the Americans were obliged to retreat from Canada. 
21. About this time the lar^e and flourishir)g town of Norfolk, in 
Virginia, was wantonly burnt by order of lord Dunmore, the royal 
goveriror. General Gage went to England in September, and was 
succeeded in command by general Howe. Falmouth, a considerable 
town in the province of Maine, in Massachusetts, shared the fate of 
Norfolk ; being laid in ashes by order of the British admiral. 



444 UNITED STATES. 

23. The British king entered into treaties with some of the German 
princes for about seventeen thousand men, who were to be sent to 
America the next year, to assist in subduing the colonies. The British 
parliament also passed an act, forbidding all intercourse with America ; 
and while they repealed the 13oston port and fishery bills, they declar- 
ed all American property on the high seas forfeited to the captors. 
This act induced congress to change the mode of carrying on the war ; 
and measures were taken to annoy the enemy in Boston. For this 

Eiqpose, batteries were opened on several hills, from whence shot and 
ombs were thrown into the town. But the batteries which were 
opened on Dorchester point had the best effect, and soon obliged 
general Howe to abandon the town. In March, 1,776, the British 
troops embarked for Halifax, and general Washington entered the 
town in triumph. 

24. In the ensuing summer, a small squadron of ships, under the 
command of sir Peter Parker, and a body of troops under the gene- 
rals Clinton and Comwallis, attempted to take Charleston, the capital 
of South Carolina. The ships made a violent attack upon the fort on 
Sullivan's island, but were repulsed with great loss, and the expedition 
was abandoned. 

25. In July, congress published their declaration of independence, 
which for ever separated America from Great Britain. This great 
event took place two hundred and eighty-four years after the first dis- 
coveiy of America by Columbus — one hundred and seventy from the 
first effectual settlements in Virginia — and one hundred and fifty-six 
from the first settlement of Plymouth in Massachusetts, which were 
the earliest English settlements in America. Just after this declara- 
tion, general Howe, with a powerful force, arrived near New- York, 
and landed the troops upon Staten Island, General Washington was 
in New- York, with about thirteen thousand men, encamped either in 
the city, or in the neighbouring fortifications. 

26. The operations of the British began by the action on Long 
Island, in the month of August. The Americans were defeated, and 
general Sullivan and lord Sterling, with a large body of men, were 
made prisoners. The night after the engagement, a retreat was 
ordered, and executed with such silence, that the Americans lei\ the 
island without alarming their enemies, and without loss. In Septem- 
ber, the city of New- York was abandoned by the American army, and 
taken by the British. 

27. In November, fort Washington, on York Island, was taken, and 
more than two thousand men made prisoners. Fort Lee, opposite to 
fort Washington, on the Jersey shore, was 50on after taken, but the 
garrison escaped. About the same time, general Clinton was sent, 
with a body of troops, to take possession of Rhode Island, and suc- 
ceeded. In addition to all these losses and defeats, the American 
army suffered by desertion, and more by sickness, which was epidemic, 
and very mortal. 

28. The northern army, at Ticonderoga, was in a disagreeable 
situation, particularly after the battle on lake Champlain, in which the 
American force, consisting of a few light vessels, under the command 
of Arnold and general Waterbuiy, was totally dispersed. But general 
Carleton, instead of pursuing his victory, landed at Crown Point, re- 
connoitered our posts at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, and 
returned to winter quarters in Canada. 

^A'f ^^ c^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ year, the American army was dwindled to a 
pandful of men ; and general Lee was taken prisoner in New-Jersey. 



UNITED STATES. 44S 

Far from being discouraged at these losses, congress took measures to 
raise and establish an army. In this critical situation, general Wash- 
ington surprised and took a large body of Hessians, who were canton- 
ed at Trenton ; and soon after, another body of the British troops, at 
Princeton. The address in planning and executing these enterprises, 
reflected the highest honour on the commander, and the success reviv- 
ed the despondinec hopes of America. The loss of general Mercer, a 
gallant officer, at Princeton, was the principal circumstance that allay- 
ed the joy of victory. 

30. The following year, (l,777,) was distinguished by very memo- 
rable events in favour of America. On the opening of the campaign, 
governor Trj'on was sent, with a body of troops, to destroy the stores 
at Danbury, in Connecticut. This plan was executed, and the town 
mostly burnt. The enemy suffered in their retreat, and the Americans 
lost general Wooster, a brave and experienced officer. General Pres- 
colt was taken from his quarters on Rhode Island, by the address and 
enterprise of colonel Barton, and conveyed prisoner to the continent. 
General Burgoj^ne, who commanded the northern British army, took 
possession of Ticonderoga, which had been abandoned by the Ameri- 
cans. He pushed his successes, crossed lake George, and encamped 
upon the banks of the Hudson, ^S'lear Saratoga. His progress was 
however checked by the defeat of colonel Baum, near Bennington, in 
which the undisciplined militia of Vermont, under general Stark, dis- 
played unexampled bravery, and captured almost the whole detach- 
ment. The militia assembled from all parts of New-England, 1o stop 
the progress of general Burgoyne. These, with the regular troops, 
fonned a respectable army, commanded by general Gates. After 
two severe actions, in which the generals Lincoln and Arnold, behaved 
with uncommon gallantry, and were wounded, general Burgoyne found 
himself enclosed with brave troops, and was forced to surrender his 
whole army, amounting to seven thousand men, into the hands of the 
Americans. This happened in October. This event diffijsed a uni- 
versal joy over America, and laid a foundation for the treaty with 
France. 

31. But before these transactions, the main body of the British 
forces had embarked at ^ievv-York, sailed up the Chesapeake, and 
landed at the head of Elk river. The army soon began their march 
for Philadelphia. General Washington had determined to oppose 
them, and for this purpose made a stand upon the heights near Brandy- 
wine creek. Here the armies engaged, and the Americans were over- 
powered, and suffered great los,-. The enemy soon pursued their 
march, and took possession of Philadelphia towards the close of Sep- 
tember. Not long after, the two armies were again engaged at Ger- 
mantown, and in the beginning of the action the Americans had the 
advantage ; but by some unli'cky accident, the fortune of the day 
was turned in favour of the British. Both sides sufl'ered considerable 
loss ; on the side of the Americaiij ^vr.s general Nash. 

32. In an attack upon the forts at ^iud Island and Red Bank, the 
Hessians were unsuccessful, and ineir commander, colonel Donop, 
killed. The British also lost the Augusta, a ship of the line. But 
the forts were afterwards taken, and the navigation of the Delaware 
opened. General Washington was reinforced with part of the troops 
which had composed the northern army, tnder general Gates ; and 
both armies retired to winter quarters. 

33. In October, the same month in wh.ch general Burgoyne was 
taken at Saratoga, general Vaughan, with a small fleet, sailed up 

Pp 



446 UNITED STATES. 

Hudson's river, and wantonly burnt Kingston, a beautiful Dutch settle- 
ment, on the west side ot the river. 

34. The beginning of tlie next year ^1,778) was distinguished by a 
treaty of alliance between J' ranee and America ; by which we obtain- 
ed a powerful ally. When the English ministry were informed that 
this treaty was on foot, they despatched connnissioners to America, 
to attempt a reconciliation. But America would not now accept their 
offers. Early in the spring, count de Estaing, with a tleet of tifteeti 
sail of the line, was sent by the court of France to assist Anu;rica. 

35. General Howe left the army, and returned to England ; the 
command then devolved upon sir Henry Clinton. In June, the British 
army left Philadelphia, and marched for New-Tork. On tlitir march 
they were much annoyed by the Americans ; and at Monmuuth a very 
regular action took place between part of the armies ; the enemy were 
repulsed with great loss ; and had general Lee obeyed his ordejs, a 
signal victoiy must have been obtained. General Lee, for his ill con- 
duct that day, was suspended, and was Jiever afterwards itcrniitted to 
join the army. 

36. In August, general Sullivan, with a large body of troops, at- 
tempted to take possession of Rhode Island, but diii not succeed. 
Soon after, the stores and shipping ai Bedford, in Massachusetts, were 
burnt by a party of British troops. The same year. Savannah, the 
capital of Georgia, was taken by l!ie I)riti>h, under the command of 
colonel Campbell. In the folldwing jear, (1,779,) general Lincoln 
was appointed to the command of the southern army. Governor 
Tryon and sir George Collier made an incur-ion into Connecticut, 
and burnt, with wanton barbarity, the towns of Fairfield and Norwalk. 

37. But the American arms were crowned with success in a bold 
attack upon Stony Point, which was surprised and taken by general 
Wayne, in the night of the 15th of .Inly. Five hundred men were 
made prisoners, with a small loss on either side. A party of Briti^h 
forces attempted, this summer, to build a fort on Penobscot river, tor 
the purpose of cutting timber in the neighbouring forests. A plan was 
laid, by Massachusetts, to dislodge them, and a consitlerable met col 
lected for the purpose. But the plan failed of success, and the whole 
marine force fell into the hands of the British, except some vessels, 
which were burnt by the Americans themselves. 

38. In October, genferal Lincoln and count de Estaing made an 
assault upon Savannah ; but they W(!re repulsed widi consid.uaide 
loss. In this action, the celebrated Polish count Polaski, who had ac- 
quired the reputation of a brave soldier, was mortally wounded. In 
this summer, general Sullivan marched, with a body of troops, into 
the Indian country", and burnt and destroyed all their provisions and 
settlements that fell in his way. 

39. On the opening of the campaign, the next year, (1,780,) the 
British troo])s left Rhode Island. An expedition under general Clin- 
ton and lord Cornwallis, was undertaken against Charleston, South 
Carolina, where general Lincoln commanded. This town, after a close 
siege of about six weeks, was suircndered to the British commander ; 
and general Lincoln, and the whole American garrison, were made 
prisoners. 

40. General Gates was appointed to the command in the southern 
department, and another army collected. In Ai'gust, lord Cornwallis 
attacked the Anvrican trfw »j»s at Camden, in South Carolina, and rout- 
ed them with considerable loss. Fie afterwards marched through the 
southern states, and supposed them entirely subdued. The same 



UNITED STATES. 447 

summer, the British troops made frequent incursions from New- York 
into the Jerseys ; ravaging and pUmdering the country. In some of 
these descents, the Rev, Mr. Caldwell, a respectable clei^yman and 
warm patriot, and his lady, were inhumanly murdered by the savage 
soldiery. 

41. In July, a French fleet, under Monsieur de Ternay, with a 
body of land forces, commanded by count de Rochambeau, arrived at 
Rhode Island, to the great joy of the Americans. 

42. This year was also distinguished by the infamous treason of 
Arnold. General Washington having some business to transact at 
Weathersficid, in Connecticut, left Arnold to command the important 
post of West Point, which guards a pass in Hudson's river, about sixty 
miles from xVew-York. Arnold's conduct in tlie city of Philadelphia, 
the preceding winter, had been censured, and the treatment he receiv- 
ed in consequence had given him offence. He determined to have 
revenge ; and Ibr this purpose he entered into a negotiation with sir 
HcniT Clinton, to deliver West Point and the army into the hands of 
the British. -While general W'ashington was absent, he dismounted 
the cannon in some of the forts, and took other steps to render the 
taking of the post easy for the enemy. But by a providential discov- 
ery, the whole plan was defeated. ;'^Ma[or Andre, aid to general 
Clinton, a brave oiBcer, who had been up (lie river as a spy, to con- 
cert the plan of operations with Arnold, was taken, condemned by a 
court-martial, and executej.1. Arnold made his escape by getting on 
board the Vulture, a British vessel which lay in the river. His con- 
duct has stamped him with infamy, and, like all traitors, he is despised 
by all mankind. General Washington arrived in camp just after 
Arnold had made his escape, and restored order in the garrison. 

43. After the defeat ot general Gates, in Carolina, general Green 
was appointed to the command in the southern department. From 
this period, things in this quarter wore a more favourable aspect. 
Colonel I'arleton, the active commander of the British legion, was 
defeated by general Morgan, the intrepid commander of the riflemen. 
After a variet)' of movements, the two armies met at Guilford, in North 
Carolina. Here was one of the best fought actions during the war. 
General Greene and lord Cornwallis exerted themselves, at the head 
of their respective armies, and, although the Americans were obliged 
to retire from the field of battle, yet the British army suffered an im- 
men.se loss, and could not pursue the victory. This action happened 
on the 15th of March, 1,7«1. 

44. In the spring, Aiiioid, who was made a brigadier-general in the 
British service, with a small number of troops, sailed for Virginia, and 
plundered the country. This called the attention of the French fleet 
to lliat quarter, and a naval engagement took place, between the 
English and French, in which some of the English ships were much 
damaged, and one entirely disabled. 

45. After the battle at Guilford, general Greene moved towards 
South Carolina, to drive the British from their posts in that state. 
Here lord Rawdon obtained an inconsiderable advantage over the 
Americans, near Camden. But general Greene more than recovered 
this disadvantage, by the brilliant and successful action at the Eutaw 
springs ; where general Marion distinguished himself, and the brave 
colonel Washington was wounded and taken prisoner. Lord Corn- 
wallis finding general Greene successful in Carolina, marched to Vir- 
ginia, collected his forces, and fortified himself in Yorktown. In the 
mean time, Arnold made an incursion into Connecticut, burnt a pai-t 



448 UNITED STATES. 

of New-London, took fort Griswold by storm, and put the garrison to 
the snord. The ganison consisted chiefly of men suddenly collected 
from the little town of Groton, which, by the savage cruelty of the 
British officer who commanded the attack, lost, in one hour, almost 
all its heads of families. The brave colonel Ledj-ard, who command- 
ed tlie fort, was slain with his own sword, after he had surrendered. 

46. The marquis de la Fayette, the brave and generous nobleman, 
whose services conmiand the gratitude of every American, had been 
despatched from the main army to watch the motions of lord Corn- 
wallis, in Virginia. About the last of August, count de Gra.>>se arrived 
with a large fleet in the Chesapeake, and blocked up the British troops 
at Yorktown. Admiral Greaves, with a British fleet, appeared off the 
Capes, and an action succeeded, but it was not decisive. General 
Washington had, before this time, moved the main body of his army, 
together with the French troops, to the southward ; and, as soon as he 
heard of the arrival of the French fleet in the Chesapeake, he made 
rapid marches to the head of the Elk, where embarking, the troops 
soon arrived at Yorkto^vn. A close siege iramediatel}' commenced, 
and was carried on with such vigour by the combined forces of Amer- 
ica and France, that lord Cornwallis v.-as obliged to surrender. This 
glorious event, which took place on the 19th of October, 1,781, de- 
cided the contest in favour of America, and laid the tliundation of a 
general peace. A tew months after the surrender of Cornwallis, the 
British evacuated ail their posts in South Carolina and Geoigia, and 
retired to the main army in New- York. 

47. The next spring (l,782^ sir Guy Carlton arrived in New-York, 
and took conunand of the British army in America. Immediately 
after his arrival, he acquainted general Washington and congress, that 
negotiations for a peace had been commenced at Paris. On the 30th 
of November, 1,782, tlie provisional articles of peace were signed at 
Paris, by which Great Britain acknowledged the independence and 
sovereignty of the United States of America. 

48. Thus ended a long and arduous conflict, in which Great Britain 
expended near a hundred millions of money, with a hundred thousand 
lives, and won nothing. America endured every cnielty and distress 
from her enemies ; lost many lives, and much treasure — but delivered 
herself trom a foreign dominion, and gained a rank among the nations 
of the earth. 



SECTION V. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE AND NATIONAL GOVERN- 
MENTS. WARS WITH TRIPOU AND THE INDIANS, «fcc. 

1. The important revolution, as regarding the dependance of the 
colonies on Great Britain, required a corresponding alteration in their 
governments. Conventions were assembled in the several states, 
which formed new cttnstitutions, agreeably to the strictest principles 
of republicanism ; retaining whatever was desirable in the original 
institutions, and at the same time providing additional security against 
tyranny or corruption. The statute and common laws of England, 
formerly observed in the provincial courts of justice, remain in prac- 
tice as before. The inestimable privilee:e, of British origin, a trial 
by jury ; the freedom of the press, with tlie additional right, in case 
o? prosecuting for a libel, of giving the trutli in evidence ; are d«"> 



UNITED STATES. 449 

Cisred to oe fundamental principles. The governments resemble, in 
their principal organization, the frame of the new federal constitution : 
they consist of three branches — a governor, a senate, and a lower 
house of representatives. The elections recur frequently, in which, 
in most of the states, every freeman has a right to participate. 

2. As yet the general government was not established on a solid 
foundation. The articles of union, formed under the pressure of com- 
mon danger, were found inadequate to the efficient management of the 
same country in the selfish periods of peace and security. No efficient 
fund had been provided to pay the interest of the national debt, and 
the public securities fell to one tenth of their nominal value. An open 
resistance to the government was made in Massachusetts, headed by a 
person of the name of Shays. Danger increased, and the friends of 
rational liberty became alarmed. 

3. The Virginia legislature, in 1,707, in accordance with a motion 
made by James Madison, made a proposal to the other states to meet 
in convention for the pui-pose of digesting a system of government 
equal to the exigencies of the union. The convention met at Phila- 
delphia, May 25, 1,787, and chose general Washington president ; 
and, after deliberating with closed doors until the 17th of September, 
agreed on a new plan of national government : this was altenvards 
ratified by the several states. This new constitution not only fixes the 
national government on a republican basis, but guaranties to each state 
of the family a republican torm of government, and binds the whole 
to protect each against foreign invasion or domestic violence. Gen- 
eral Washington was unanimously chosen first president under t'le new 
constitution. March 4, 1,789, the first congress under the new coajti- 
tution assembled at New-York ; and, in 1,790, duties wer(> levied on 
imported merchandise, to replenish an empty treasury. The public 
debt incurred during the revolutionaiy war was funded, and brought 
at once to its par value. A national bank Avas established, not how- 
ever without opposition. .An excise duty l.iiil on domestic spirits, pro- 
duced an insurrection in the western part of Pennsylvania ; but the 
laws were executed, and on the intervention of an armed force, tran- 
quillity was restored without bloodshed. 

4. Two new states were admitted into the confederacy, viz. : Ver- 
mont in 1,791, and Kentucky in 1,79-2. A war with the Creek Indians, 
wliose lightirig men amounted to about six hundred, some time existed 
on the iVontier of Georgia : peace, however, was restored there in 
1,790. A sanguinary warfare, with various success, was for some time 
kept up with the north-western Indians. In 1,791, general Harmar 
was defeated, in the Ohio country, with the loss of three hundred and 
sixty men killed. General St. Clair, at the head of two thousand 
militia and regulars, was subscquentl)^ worsted, near the Indian villages 
on the Miami, with the loss of thirty-eight officers, and nearly six 
hundred privates. St. Clair was succeeded by general Wayne, who 
tonq)letely routed the savage foe, and drove the Indians out of the 
country. In the year after, Wayne negotiated a satisfactory treaty 
of peace with the hostile Indians ; and at this time commenced a 
humane system for ameliorating their con-lition. 

5. Whilst the United States were emi)loyed in quelling the refrac- 
tory, and restraining the imoads of a subtle enemy within their own 
bosom, new sources of difficulty discovertil themselves in the great 
convulsions of Europe. The French revolution had conunenced, and 
that nation was under the wild misrule of its directory. Claims for 
assistance were made on the United States. Genet, the French, envoy, 

P p 2 57 



450 UNITED STATES. 

having arrived at Charleston, undertook to authorize the arming of 
vessels in that port, and the enlisting of men ; giving commissions, in 
the name ol the French government, to cruise at sea, and commit lios- 
tilities on land, against nations with whom the United States were at 
peace. The British minister remonstrated. The president issued 
orders for defeating the unwarrantable interference of the French am- 
bassador. Genet threatened an appeal to the people, but was soon 
after recalled. Afterwards, the French directory authorized the in- 
disciiminate capture of all vessels sailing under the flag of the United 
States ; and ordered the American envoys to leave France. Two 
se\ere actions occurred in the West Indies, between the American 
frig.te Constellation, of tliirty-eight guns, and the French frigate 
L'lnsurgente, of forty, and the same frigate and the La Vengeance, of 
fifty guns, in \vhich L'lnsui^ente was captured, and La Vengeance 
worsted. 

6. In 1,797, John Adams was chosen president ; and in the year 
after, Washington was called to the head of the army, in the prospect 
of a protracted war with France. But speedily alter the overthrow 
of the director)' government, all the disputes between France and the 
United States were amicably arranged. 

7. Although, since the definitive treaty of Paris, there occurred no 
open hostilities between England and the United States, yet they were 
far from being on terms of amity and conciliation. On various pre- 
texts, the English retained possession of the forts on the south side of 
the lakes, forming the northern boundaiy of the United Stales ; and 
irritation was continually excited by the English insisting on the right 
of searching American ships for enemy's property. Mr. Jay was de- 
puted envoy to London, and negotiated a treaty, in 1,795, which set- 
tled the diftltirences between the two nations, but the terms of which 
were much opposed in the United States. 

8. December 14, 1,799, died the illustrious Washmgton, of an in- 
flammatory sore throat and fever, contracted from a slight exposure to 
the wet weather, after an illness of only about twenty-four hours. 

9. The seat of government had been removed from New- York to 
Philadelphia, both of which places being deemed inconvenient, pro- 
vision was made, at the second session alter tlie formation of govern- 
ment, fur the removal of the government to a district on the Potomac, 
which was ceded to the United States by Virginia and Maryland ; and, 
in 1.800, the public offices were removed to the infant capital, on 
which magnificent buildings had been erected. This city bears the 
name of Washington, and the district that of Columbia. 

10. The war with Tripoli commenced in 1,801, by an engagement 
of the Enterprise, captain Sterrett, with a Tripolitan corsair, off Malta, 
in which the American was victorious. Commodore Murray, the 
followitjir year, in the liigate Constellation, was attacked, while cruis- 
ing off Tripoli, by a formidable number of gun boats, but obliged 
them to retire in confusion. In l,8u3, the Philadelphia frigate, cap- 
tain Eainbridge, ran upon a rock, in the veiy jaws of the pirates; was 
obliged to strike, and her officers and crew% amounting to three hun- 
dred, iwere made prisoners. This vessel was, however, recaptured 
and burnt, while lyii^ in the harbour of Tripoli, February 16, 1,804, 
by captain Stephen Decatur, jr., and seventy men — one of the most 
daring and gallant exploits on record. From the tid to the 29th of 
August following, commodore Preble made three general attacks upon 
the Tripolitan batteries. The barbarian enemy continued to treat 
the American prisoners with the most atrocious ciuelly. Another 



UNITED STATES. 451 

expedient was tried by the American government. General Eaton 
was despatciied to co-operate with Hamet, who had been driven from 
the government of Tripoli by the usurpation of his brother. Travel- 
ling to Eg)'pt, he found the exile, and proceeding fifty-two days 
through a hideous desert, he arrived betore Derne, a city in the 
regency of Tripoli, and carried the town at the point of the bayonet. 
Twice did the enemy attempt to retake the town ; but, against tearful 
odds, they were repulsed by Eaton. This brought the reigning 
bashaw to terms ; a peace was concluded by colonel Lear, and the 
prisoners long detained in captivity, were released. 

11. Tennessee in 1,796, and Ohio in 1,800, were added to the states 
of the union. In 1,803, Louisiana ^^as purchased tVom the French 
government, for the sum of filteen millions of dollars ; and in 1,812, a 

gortion of this extended ter"itor3- was erected into a state by that name. 
y this cession, the United States have acquired a territory' of vast 
magnitude, and extraordinary fertility, from which new states will 
continue to be incorporated. 

12. Ill the autumn of 1,806, Aaron Burr was detected in an enter- 
prise of great moment, the separation of the western states from the 
union, and the subjugation of New-Orleans : his plan was defeated by 
the vigilance of the government ; Burr was arrested on a chai-ge of 
high treason — but no overt act being proved on him, he was released. 



SECTION VI. 
WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN, kc. 

1. We come now to treat of those interesting events which brought 
on a second contest between Great Britain and the United States. 
The custom of searching American vessels on the ocean, and impress- 
ing from them British seamen,' had long been practised by the English. 
But hitherto the custom had been contuied to private vessels : now, it 
was extended in some instances to public ajmed vessels. Four seamen, 
deserlers from the British navy, were reported to have entered the 
service of the United States, and to have been received on board the 
frigate Chesapeake, at the time lying at Hampton roads, preparing fur 
the Mediterranean. Adjniral Berkeley ordered captain Humphries, 
■ of the Leopard, to folio\v the Chesapeake beyond the waters of the 
United States, and demand the deserters : this he did, and, after 
demanding the seamen, tired a broadside upon the American trigate. 
This unexpecte.l attack so disconcerted captain Barron, that he im- 
mediately struck the colours of the Chesapeake, and ponriitted the 
four seamen to be taken without resistance. The Leopard carried 
fifty, the Chesapeake only thirty-six guns. On board the latter, lour 
men were killed and sixteen wounded. Oue of the impressed seamen 
was atterwards hanged, and one died in prison : and there was reason 
for supposing that three of them were native Americans. Captain 
Barron, for neglect of dutyi was suspended from command for five 
years. This tragical occurrence produced a general indignation. 
Tiie British, however, disavowed admiral Berkeley's orders, and re- 
mo\ed him from the station, but soon after appointed him to, a more 
important one. 

'2. New systems of blockade uere invented by the belligerents, 
commencing with the French decree of Berlin, of November 21, 



452 UNITED STATES. 

1,806 : January 7, 1,807, came the British order prooioiting coas\;ing: 
trade ; November 1 1 , the celebrated British orders in council ; and 
December 7, the French Milan decree. December 22, of tlie same 
year, congress, on the recommendation of Mr. Jetferson, then presi- 
dent, ordered an embargo, prohibiting the exportation of every article 
from the United States. March 4, 1,809, the embai^o was removed, 
and non-intercourse substituted. April 19, an arrangement was made 
with Mr. Erskine, which induced the American government to renew 
the trade with England ; this arrangement was sul)sequently disavow- 
ed by the British government. The insulting deportment of the suc- 
ceeding negotiator, Mr. Jackson, heightened the resentment of the 
republic ; and a rencounter between the American and British ships 
of war, President and Little Beit, increased the unfriendly sentiments 
of England. 

3. Mr. Foster, a new British minister, offered honourable reparation 
for the indignity on the Chesapeake ; but no change could be procur- 
ed in the systems practised by Great Britain and France against 
American trade. The United States now offered to either of the 
belligerents, or both, as soon as they ceased to violate the neutral 
commerce of the republic, that the non-intercourse arrangement 
should be dihcontinued. The French arttully embraced the offer, by 
information that the French Berlin and Milan decrees had been re- 
voked ; and non-intercourse with France was discontinued by procla- 
mation of the president. 

4. AVar was declared by the United States against Great Britain, 
June 18, 1,812, too late to avail themselves of the retraction of the 
British orders in council, which followed the repeal of the Berlin and 
Milan decrees. The congress voted an addition to the regular army, 
of twenty-five thousand men ; authorized a loan of eleven millions ; 
and nearl)' doubled the duties on imports. 

5. Previous to tlie declaration of war, indications of hostility had 
appeared among the Indians on the frontiers bordering on Canada. 
A body ol troops, under governor Harrison, was attacked on the 71h 
of November, 1,811, near a branch of the Wabash, by a lai^er body 
of Indians, who were defeated, not without considerable loss to the 
Americans. 

6. On the 12th of July, general Hull, governor of the Michigan 
territory, crossed from Detroit into the province of Canada, with a 
considerable force. In this situation, he soon received intelligence of 
the capture of the American post at Michiilimackinac. On the 8th 
of August, he returned to Detroit, followed by the British general 
Brock, with his regulars and Indians ; and he soon surrendered to the 
British, not only his army, but included the whole territory of Michi- 
gan in the articles of capitulation. He was afterwards tried, and 
found guilty of cowardice and neglect of duty, and sentenced to be 
shot : but, in consideration of his revolutionary services, and his age, 
the court recommended him to mercy, and the president withdrew the 
punishment of death. He has since endeavoured, by letters address- 
ed to the people of this country, to justity his conduct ; and with many 
persons his endeavours have been successful. 

7. On the 19th of August, the Constitution frigate, captain Hull, 
captured the British frigate Guerriere, captain Dacres, after an action 
of thirty minutes : loss of the Guerriere, fifteen killed, sixty-tour 
wounded, and twenty-one missing — that of the Constitution, seven 
killed and seven wounded. October 25, the frigate United States, 
captain Decatur, met the British frigate Macedonian, off the westera, 



UNITED STATES. 453 

isles, and captured her after an action of one hour and a half : British 
loss, thirty-six killed and sixty-eight wounded — American loss, seven 
killed, five wounded. The next naval achievement was the capture 
of the British brig Frolic by the American sloop Wasp, commanded 
by captain Jones : British loss, thirty killed and fifty wounded — 
American, five killed, live wounded. In December, the Constitution, 
captain Bainbridge, again met the enemy, and the frigate Java was 
captured : British loss, sixty killed, and one hundred and one wound- 
ed — American, nine killed, twenty-five wounded. Besides these vic- 
tories of public ships, numerous privateers swarmed the ocean, and, 
before the meeting of congress, in November, nearly two hundred and 
fifty vessels were captured Ironi the enemy. 

8. In November, general Van Rensselaer, with about one thousand 
troops, crossed the Niagara river into Upper Canada, and attacked 
the British at Q,ueenstown ; and, after an obstinate engagement, was 
obliged to surrender, with a loss of sixty killed, and about one hundred 
woupded. In this engagement the British general Brock was killed. 

9. Early in 1,813, an action was fought at the river Raisin, between 
an American detachment, under general Winchester, and a British and 
Indian force under colonel Proctor. The Americans were defeated, and 
the greater part of five hundred prisoner;; were immediately massacred. 
Proctor being unable or unwilling to protect them, as he had expressly 
stipulated ! Soon after, general Harrison was attacked and besieged, 
by the combined British and Indians at fort Meigs. A desult<.>.-y war 
was kept up for some time. Colonel Dudley was detached from llie 
fort, to attack the enemy's batiery on the opposite side of the river. 
He succeeded in capturing the battery, but his troops, imprudently 
pursuing the enemy, were soon surniunded by an Indian anny, three 
times their number, headed by the Indian general Tecuinseh ; a des- 

{)erate fight, and a scene of slaughter almost as terrible as that at 
iaisin, ensued. Of eight hundred men composing the detachment, 
only about one hundred and fifty escaped. 

10. On the 21bt of February-, the British attacked Ogdensburgh, on 
the river St. Lawrence, with a force of tweive hundrf d, and comjielled 
the Americans to evacuate the place. In April, the Americans, under 
general Pike, landed at York, in Upper Canada ; and, after some se- 
vere fighting, succeeded in capturing or destroying a lar." amount of 
public stores. The British lost seven hundred and fifty i; en, in killed, 
wounded, and captured. The brave Pike was mortally wounded, by 
the explosion of a magazine, which had been purposely set on fire. 
The object of the expedition being gained, the American forces evac- 
uated York on the 1st of May, and re-embarked. 

11. Fort George, commanded by general Vincent, was taken by 
the American forces, under general Boyd and colonel Miller, May 27, 
after a sharp conflict. The JBritish lost, in killed and wounded, about 
two hundred and fifty men, besides six hundred prisoners — their an- 
tagonists, thirty-nine killed and one hundred and eight wounded. 
Soon afterwards, generals Chandler and Winder, who had advanced 
with a considerable force, were attacked in the night, by general 
Vincent, who had been reinforced, between fort George and Burling- 
ton bay, and, in a scene of confusion, were both made prisoners ; their 
troops retired to fort George. 

19. Captain James Lawrence, of the Hornet, fell in with, and cap- 
tured, the British sloop of war Peacock, February 24, The action 
lasted eight minutes ; and the British captain and several others were 
killed, and twenty-nine wounded — the Hornet had tjiree wounded. 



454 UNITED STATES. 

The Peacock sunk soon after the action, and thirteen British sailors 
went down with her. Captain Lawrence was afterwards appointed to 
the command of the ill-fated Chesapeake, then lying in Boston harbour. 
The British frigate Shannon, commanded by captain Broke, had been 
for some time in the bay, seeking an engagement witli an American 
frigate. Lawrence, burning with impatience to meet the enemy, did 
not wait to inquire into the relative condition of the vessels. The 
Shannon had a picked crew, and was accoutred Ibr the express pur- 
pose of engaging an American frigate of the lai^est size. The Ches- 
apeake, not of the largest description of frigates, had recently dis- 
charged a part of her crew, and enlisted others : several of her officers 
were sick. Lawrence sailed on the first of June ; and A\hen he came 
within sight of the Shannon, addressed his crew, but they listened with 
no enthusiasm : some complained that they had not received their 
prize money — murmurs and dissatisfaction were general ; in fact the 
crew were almost in a state of mutiny. The Chesapeake closed with 
the enemy and gave the first broadside ; and at the first fire of the 
Shannon, captain Lawrence was mortally wounded. A second and a 
third broadside gave the British a decided advantage, which was fol- 
lowed up by boarding the Chesapeake. A scene of carnage ensued ; 
captain Lawrence was cairied below, exclaiming, as he left the deck, 
*' Don't give up the ship." Every officer qualified for command in 
the Chesapeake, was either killed or disabled : about eighty were 
killed, and as many wounded. Of the British, twenty-three were 
killed and fifty-six wounded. The captured frigate was carried in 
triumph to Halifax. The brilliant achievements of Wellington and 
Nelson scarcely called forth more lively expressions of exultation in 
England, than did the capture of the Chesapeake. The tower guns 
at London were fired on reception of the news, and the prince regent 
conferred on captain Broke the order of knighthood. 

13. On the 4th of August, the American sloop of war Ai^us was 
captured by the Pelican, a vessel of her own class, but said to be two 
guns superior. Captain Allen, commander of the Argus, was mortally 
wounded at the first broadside of the enemy. In the'follouing month, 
the American brig Enterprize captured the Boxer, a vessel superior 
in effijctive force. The only person killed on board the Enterprize 
was her gallant confmander, lieutenant Burroughs, and thirteen were 
wounded. The British loss was greater: among the slain was captain 
Blythe, who commandwl the Boxer, and who was buried by the side 
of his antagonist in the town of Portland, off whose harbour the action 
was fought. 

14. But the most brilliant arhiev^ment this year was that of the 
youthful Perry on lake Erie. The British force consisted of six ves- 
sels, havmg sixty-three guns ; that of the Americans, of nine vessels 
and fifty-six guns. The conflict was tremendous. The flag ship of 
Perry suffered dreadfully in the loss of men, and was on the point of 
sinking : he left the ship in the midst of the hottest fire, and proceed- 
ed to another vessel ; and after three hours conflict, the laurel of 
victory »vas assigned to Perry ; the triumph was complete— not a single 
vessel of the enemy escaped. This action took place on the 10th of 
September, and made the Americans masters of the lake. The gallant 
Perry announced this victory in the following laconic epistle to general 
Harrison : We have met the enemy and they are ours— two ships, 
two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop." 

15. Chesapeake bay was blockaded by the British during the spring 
01 tins year, and several predatory incursions by their troops were 



UNITED STATES. 455 

made. Much property was plundered and destroyed, and many dis- 
graceful scenes occurred, particularly at Hampton and Havre de 
Grace. 

16. An attack was made, May 29, on Sackett's harbour by about one 
thousand British, who were repulsed with considerable loss. General 
Brown commanded the American, and sir George Prevost the British 
troops. About the same time the British attacked Craney Island, 
near Norfolk, and were defeated with loss. 

17. General Dearborn, the American commander, retired from ser- 
vice this year. Fort Sandusky was invested by a large force of British 
and Indians ; and the exploit of major Croghati in repulsino; the assail- 
ants with great loss, called forth general admiration. In October, 
Detroit was abandoned by the British, on the approach of a laige 
army under general Harrison ; who, soon after, deteated the enemy 
under the command of general Proctor, in Upper Canada ; in this 
battle the celebrated Terumseh was killed. 

18. Little was done this year towards the conquest of Canada. 
General Wilkinson descended the St. LaAvrence from lake Ontario in 
November ; and an engagement took place at Williamsbui-gh, in 
which the Americans were repulsed w'dh the loss ol three hundred 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. A disagreement between the generals 
Hampton and Wilkinson, prevented that concert which was necessary 
to secure success ; the design of attacking Montreal was relinquished, 
and the army retired to winter quarters. Fort George was evacuated 
in the month of December ; and misconceiving his instrudions, general 
M'Clure, who commanded the fortress, set tire to the vill.ige of New- 
ark. Niagara was afterwards surprised "nilretakvjn by the British. — 
The Britisli crossed over to the American side, and in resentmeni for liie 
destruction of Newark, burnt ButFalo and some other villages, and laid 
waste the whole frontier. 

19. The Creek Indians, who had been for some time in open hos- 
tilities with the United States, were completely subdued this season 
and the succeeding spring, principally by troops commanded by gen- 
eral Andrew Jackson. 

20. In Januarj', 1 ,814, propbsitions having been made by the prince 
regent for a negotiation, Messrs. Kussell and Clay uere appointed to 
join Messrs. Adams, Bayard, aiid Gallatin, already in Europe, as 
commissioners to meet such as the British government might .ippoint ; 
and Messrs. Gamljier, Golboinn, and William .Adams were appointed 

^ ti> meet them. The place of assembling was tirst Hxed at Gotlenbui^, 
but afterwards changed to Ghent in Flanders ; wl)ere the commission- 
ers met in August. 

21. The frigate Essex, captain David Porter, after having long 
cruised in the Paciiic and captured a great number of British vessels, 
was herself captured in the harljour of Valparaiso, by the British 
frigate Phebe aud the sloop Cherub. The Pep-cock captured the 
Britisli brig Epervier, April 29, after an action of lorly-two minutes. 
The Hornet sloop of war captured tiie English national brig Penguin; 

■♦and the old Constitution, under captain Stewart, overcame the united 
forces of Ihc Cyane and Levant. 

22. In tlie beginning of July, fort Erie was taken by the Americans. 
On the 4th of July, a brilliant victory was gained by general Brown 
at Chippewa. On the 25th, one of the most sanguinary battles on rec- 
ord took place at Bri igewatcr : in this action the American generals 
Scott, RipL-y, and Porter, with colonel Miller, majors Hindman, Jes- 
sup, Leavenworth, aud M'Neil, distinguished themselves. The 



456 UNITED STATES. 

British forces were led by generals Drummond and Rial. The battle 
lasted from four o'clock, P. M, until midnight. The British lost nine 
hundred, killed, wounded, and prisoners : the American loss was less. 
The latter maintained their ground ; while the former retired. 

23. The town of Eastport in the bay of Passamaquod(|y, was this 
year taken by a British naval force ; snd soon after the British took 
possession of Castine and all that part of the new state of Maine, lying 
between that place and Penobscoi river, and compelled many ot the 
inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance to Great Britain. The 
British this year landed marauding parties, at Saybrook, Wareham, 
Scituate, and other places, and destroyed much shippii.g : in an at- 
tempt on Stonington, they were beaten oil' by the gallant inhabitants 
with loss. 

24. From the 16th to the 20th of August, about sixty sail of the 
British arrived in the Chesapeake, intending to invade the States in 
earnest. More than fifty of them landed at Btnedict, on the Patuxent, 
about forty miles from Washington. On the 22d the British rir«nkers 
reached Wood Yard, fou'teen miles from Washington. (^)n)modoi'e 
Barney here blew up a flotilla of gun boats to prevent their falling into 
the hands of the enemy. On the 23d the British forces, estimated at 
six thousand, reached Bladenshu'gh, about six niiles from Washington. 
Here a short engagement to(^k place ; but the greater part of the 
American militia tied. Commodore Barney, v.ith a few eigliteen 
pounders and about four hundred men, made a gallant resistanre from 
Bladensburg to the city ; but he w?s v.ounded and taken pi'isonJT. 
The British here destroyed the capilol, the president's house, and 
several other public buildings, mutilated the monument in the navy 
yard, and committed many excesses. In the night of the 25th, tiie 
British retired, gained their shipping by rapid marches, and embark- 
ed on board their ships on the 27th. Several British ships under cap- 
tain Gordon, at the same time, ascended the Potomac, appeared be- 
fore Alexandria, robbed the defeiiceless inhabitants of a vast quantity 
of flour and other plunder; and escaped dov.n the river without n)o- 
lestation. 

25. August 14, General Drummond was repulsed in an attack on 
fort Erie, after a severe conflict, with a loss of five hundred and eiglity 
(WO in killed, wounded, and prisoners, two hundred and twenty-one 
being killed ; American loss in killed and wounded, two hundred and 
forty-five. ..: »•• 

26. On Sunday, the 11th of September, admiral Cochrane appeared 
off Baltim.ore with about fifty sail. The larger vessels landed at 
North Point, ten miles from the city, about seven thousand troops 
under general Ross and admiral Cockburn. The next day, as they 
advanced towards the city, they ivere met by general Strieker with 
about three thousand militia, and a severe engagement took place, in 
which the British general wr-.s killed. The Americans were however 
repulsed by superior numbers ; and on Tuesday evening, the British 
advanced to within about two miles of the American enlrenchmenLs. 
But so strong was the American force, and so vali-^i.tly had they fought 
the preceding day, that the British retreated before nioniing, and 
Mnfi ''^-e^V^l^^ed. A gr.ond attack was n.rde on Tuesday on fort 
ivi Henry, on the other side of the city and commanding the water 
passage to it, trom frigates, bomb, and rocket vessels, which lasted the 
Whole uay and a part of the night, doing but little damage. In the 
nigm a.xjut a thousand of the enemy lamied between the tori and the 
city, but were soon repulsed. The loss of the Americans in killed, 



UNITED STATES. 457 

wounded, and prisoners, was two hundred and thirteen : that of the 
British is not known. The enemy, thus discomfited, moved down the 
bay. 

27. The governor-general of Canada, sir George Prevost, with 
from twelve to fourteen thousand men, made an attack on Plattsburgh, 
September 11. At the same time a naval engagement, on lake Chani- 
plain, took place in sight of the land forces. The American fleet 
having eighty-six guns and eight hundred and twenty-six men, was 
commanded by captain M'Donough ; the British, consisting of ninety- 
five guns and one thousand and fifty men, was commanded by com- 
modore Downie. The action ended in the surrender of tlie British 
vessels, viz. one frigate, one brig, and two sloops of war. Some of 
their gallics were sunk ; others escaped. American loss, fifty-two 
killed, fiftj'-eight wounded : British loss, eighty-four killed, one 
hundred and ten wounded. At the same time that the i\oct< were 
engaged, governor Prevost attacked llie forts at Plattsburgh with his 
land forces, throwing shells, balls, and rockets : he attempted to cross 
the Sar.inac, Ijui was repulsed at three different places. So tfttctual 
was the fire of the Americans, that, before sunset, the batteries he had 
erected were ail silenceil; itnd at nine o'clock in the evening his 
whole army began a rapid retreat, lcavir)g many wounded, ?\k\ much 
ammunition, pmvision, and baggage. Tlie American loss this dny, 
and in skirmishes pievious on land, v/a^ thirty-nine killed, sixty-two 
wounded, and twenty missing: the loss of the British, in killcil, 
wounded, and deserti rs, besides those on board th* fleet, was estimat- 
ed at two thousand five hundred. General Alexander Macomb com- 
manded the American land forces. 

28. As on Erie and Champlain, so on the lake Ontario, each party 
strove for a naval ascendency. Several large ships ur:e built by the 
Ami ricans at Sackett's harbour, and by the British at Kingston. The 
American fleet was commanded by captain Chaunc»'y, and the Brili^ih 
by tonimodore Yeo. As at no time, one side equalled the other in 
strength, so at all times one avoided as the other sought for ap engage- 
ment. A partial action onre took place; bi/t the British conmiander, 
at tliat time supposing his Ibrce inferior, took the advantage of cir 
cumstances to make his port. One of the British vessels ready fur 
sea at the olo<e of the war iF.anm d nearly oiie hundred guns ; anu two 
of the lai^'i'st class of vessels in the world >vere at the same time 
erectin:; at Sackett's harbour. 

29. In a sortie fron» fort Erie, under the command of general .Tacob 
BrouTi, atler a severe engagement, the Rritish were defeated with the 
loss of ix.-arly a thousand, in killed, wounded, and prisoners: the 
American loss exceeded five hundred. 

^ 30. The frigate President, commodore Decatur, sailed from New- 
York. January l-l, 1,015, and was the next day pursued by four frigates 
and a brig of the enemy. An engagemeni took plac*; between the 
foremost of the pursuing vessels, the Endymion and the President : 
after a severe action of two hours, the. Endymion was silenced and 
beaten off. The Panione and Tenedos in one hour coming up, the 
President was obliged to sunender. 

31. C^ne of the most splendid events on the part of the Americans 
closed the late war: it fvas the discomfi'ure ancx repulse of the Brillsb 
at New-Oileans. A very lai-ge British force entered lake Pontchar- 
train, near New-Orleans, early in December, 1,814, defeating, after 
,an ol)stinate confliol the small Aiiierican naval ibrce stationed there. 
The British were commanded bj' general Packenham, one of Welling- 
(c^q 68 



458 UNITED STATES. 

ton's invincibles who had conquered the great Napoleon : the Ameri- 
can army was led by general Andrew Jackson. Several skirinisfies 
took place, in which the British were almost the exclusive sufferers. 
On Sunday morning early, January 8, a grand attack was made by 
the British on the American troops in their entrenchments. After an 
engagement of more than an hour, the enemy ^yere cut to pieces to a 
degree almost beyond example, and fled in confusion, leaving on the 
field of battle their dead and wounded. The British loss was seven 
hundred killed, fourteen hundred wounded, and five hundred prisoners : 
the generals Packenham and Keane, were among the slain, and gen- 
eral Cobb was dangferously \vounded. The American loss was said to 
be only seven killed and six wounded! The attack was not renewed, 
..and in a short time after, the British loft the west. 

32. Up to the close of 1,814, the British ministry, calculating to 
bring the Americans to their terms, had discovered an indisposition to 
treat with the commissioners of the United States ; but the defeat of 
the British before Plattsburgh, gave a new turn to the negotiation, and 
a li'eaty of peace was signed at Ghent, December 24, 1,814. Both 
nations agreed to appoint commissioners to settle disputed boundaries. 
No allusion was made in the treaty to the causes of the war. Security 
against their recurrence rests, however, on a much firmer basis than 
the provisions of the most solemn treaty. Britain has been taught to 
appreciate the strength of the republic. By this war the public debt 
of the United State* was increased a hundred millions of dollars. 

33. It would too much extend this sketch of the history of the re- 
public, to trace to its source the origin of parties which have divided 
the country into two great sections with different appellations. The 
distinction was unknown until subsequent to Mr. Jay's treaty with 
Great Britain in 1,795. George Washington was elected president in 
1,788, and re-elected in 1,792. He was succeeded by John Adams, 
elected in 1,796, between whom and Thomas Jefferson the parties 
divided in 1,800: the latter was chosen at that time, not however 
until he had been balloted for thirty-six times by the house of repre- 
sentatives in congress, the vote by states being at each balloting 
equally divided between Mr. Jefferson and Aaron Burr. In 1,804, 
Mr. Jefferson was re-elected. Declining an election in 1,808, Mr. 
Jefferson gave place to James Madison. The latter continuing eight 
years, James Monroe was elected to the presidency in 1,816 ; and' so 
general was the satisfaction with the administration, that in 1,820, he 
had all the electoral votes save one for the same office. 

34. Since the peace the attention of the country has been called to 
the propriety of augmenting the national defence. Congress having 
made appropriations for the purpose, extensive fortifications have been 
and continue to be erected lor the security of the comnu rcial towns. 
One million of dollars annually is likewise appropriated lor th« grad- 
ual augmentation of the navy, to which, independent of smaller 
vessels, nme ships ot the line, twelve frigates, and three floating batte- 
ries are to be added. 

35. By an act of congress in the year 1,818, a yearly pension, suffi- 
cient tor their decent maintenance, having been granted to those officers 
and privates who served more than nine months at any one time in the 
war ot the revolution, more than thirty thousand individuals made ap- 
plication lor relief. The sum required much exceeded general ex- jl 
pectation ; and the toUowing year an additional act was passed which i 
circumscribed the applicants to a narrow space. Importations having i 
lessened, the amount received into the treasury from duties became i 



UNITED STATES. 459 

less than the calculations ; and in 1,821, the standing military force 
was reduced from ten to six thousand, and the building of ships of war 
was, in some ''egree, suspended. 

36. Since tiie admission of Louisiana in 1,812, six other states have 
been admitted into the Union — Indiana in 1,816, Mississippi in j.817, 
Illinois in 1,818, Alabama in 1,819, Maine in 1,820, and jMissouri in 
1,821. Indiana and Illinois are sections of the same ten-itory from 
which Ohio was made a statf. Mississippi and Alabama belonged to 
Georgia and Louisiana : Maine was separated from Massachusetts, and 
Missouri from the vast tract ceded by the French, under the name of 
Louisiana^ 

37. A treaty was concluded at Washington in 1,819, by which Spain 
ceded to thu United States that portion of her territor)% known by the 
name of Florida. Five millions of dollars was the price; and the 
sum, in pursuance of the treaty, has been paid as indemnity to Amer- 
ican citizens for illegal seizures of their property in Spanish i)ort«. 

38. Besides the different state governments, territorial governments, 
with magistrates appointed by the president and senate, exist in 
Michigan, Arkansas, and Florida. 

39. In the year 1,820, the Iburth authorized census of the inhabitants 
was recorded. The prog^ress of population has been rapid almost 
beyond a parallel. In 1.790, the population was three milliuns nine 
hundred and twenty-one thousand : in 1,800, five millions three 
hundred and twenty thousand : in 1,810, seven millions two hundred 
and forty thousand ; and in 1,820, nine millions six hundred and tliirty- 
eigbt thousand. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



EXPLANATION OF THE TABLE OF CHRONOLOGY 

To give a distinct view of tlii; Fiicce^sion of princes in the chief onipircg 
or kinj^dome, vvitiiout employing different coiiunns, (wliicli distracts Xha 
attention, and occupieei too much space.) the series of the sovereigns of 
different nations is distinguislied in tiiis table by different tjpojrraphical 
characters. By this method the succession of the sovereigns in the dilferent 
kingdoms is immediately distinguishable, and also the duration of their 
reigns. In the intervals of time between every two ?;icccssive reigns are 
recorded the remarkable events which occurred in those periods, in all part« 
of tho V. orld ; and thus the connexion of general history is preserved un- 
broken. 

The series of the kings and emperors of Rome is printed in a larger Ro- 
man type than the rest of the table : as, 

14 Tiberius. Emperor of Rome. 

The series of the popes is distinguishable by this character II prefixed t« 
each name; as, 

1513 U Pope Leo X. 
The names of the emperors of Germany are printed in Italic capitals; a«, 

887 .ARNOLD, Emperor of Germany. 
The kings of England are designated by the black Saxon type ; as, 

lOGC SStUCam (the Conqueror) king of England. 

The kings of Scotland arc denoted by a larger capital beginning the 
word; as, 

1390 Robert IIL, king of Scotland. 

The kings of France are distinguished by the Italic type ; as, 

1498 Lewis XII., king of France. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



B.C. 

4004 The Creation of the World, according to the Hebrew text of the 
Scriptures. 
According to the version of the Septnaj^int 5872. 
Acording to the JSamaritan version 4700. 

2348 Tlie Universal Deluge. 

2247 The Building of Babel ; iho Dispersion of Mankind ; and the Confu- 
sion of Languages. 

2217 Niinrod supposed to have built Babylon, and founded the Babylonish 
Monarchy ; and Assur to have built Nineveh, and founded the 
Monarehy of Assyria. 

2188 Mcnes (in Scripture Misraim) founds the Monarchy of Egypt. 

2084 The Shepherd Kings conquer Egypt. 

2040 MoRris King of Thebes and Memphis in Egypt. 

1996 The Birth of Abram. 

1897 Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by fire from Ileavca. 

1896 Isaac born. 

1856 Inachus founds the Kingdom of Argos in Greece. 

1836 Jacob and Esau l)f)rn. 

1825 The Shepherd Kings abandon Egvpt. 

1823 Death of Abraham. 

1796 The Delugi; of Ogyges in Attica. 

1722 Sosostris or Ranioscs King of Egypt. 

1635 Joseph dies in Egypt. 

1582 The Chronology of the Arundelian Marbles begins with this year. 

1571 Mqsps born in Egypt. 

1556 Cecrops found.s the Uingdom of Athens. 

1546 Scamandcr founds the Kingdom of Troy. 

1532 Judgment of the Areopagus between Mars and Neptune, two princes 
of Thessalv. 

1525) Th.; Deluge of Deucalion in Thcssaly. 

1522 The Council of the Amphictyons instituted. 

1520 Corinth built. 

1506 Erectlieusi or Ervcthonius institutes the Panathensan Games. 

1493 Cadmus builds Thebes, and introduces Letters into Greece. 

1491 Moses brings the Israelites out of Egypt. 

1453 Tlie first Olympic Games celebrated in Greece. 

1452 The Pentateuch, or five Books of Moses, written. 

1451 The Israelites led into the land of Canaan by Joshua. 

1438 Pandion King of Athens. 

1406 Minos reigns in Crete, and gives laws to the Cretans. 

1376 Sethes reigns in Egypt. 

1322 Belus reigns in Babylon. * 

1267 Ninus reigns in Assyria. 

1266 Oedipus marries his Mother Jocasta, and reigns in Thebes. 

1263 The Argonautic Expedition. According to the Newtonian Chronol- 
ogy 937. 

1257 Theseus unites the Cities of Attica. 

1252 Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia, built. 

1225 Siege of Thebes. W»r between Eteocles and Polynices. 
Qq2 



462 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

B. C. 

1225 Eurysthencs and Procles Kings of Lacedsemon. 

1215 Second War of Thebes, or War of the Epigonoi. 

Seinirainis supposed to have reigned at Babylon. 

1207 Gideon Judge of Israel. 

1202 Tcuccr built Salamis. 

1193 The Trojan War begins. 

1184 Troy taken and burnt by the Greeks. According to the Arundelian 

Marbles 1209. 
1182 .^neas lands in Italy. 
1155 Samson born. 

1104 Return of the Ileraclidae into Peloponnceus. 
1099 Samuel delivers Israel. 
1079 Saul King of Israel. 
1070 Medon first Archon of Athens. 

10G9 Codrus King of Alliens devotes himself for his country. 
1055 David King of Israel. 
1004 Dedication of vSolomon's Temple. 

930 Rehoboam King of Israel. 

889 Athaliah, wife of Jchoram, usurps the throne of Judah. 

88G Homer's Poems brought from Asia into Greece. 

884 Lycurgus reforms the Con.stitution of Lucedseniou. 

8()9 Tlie city of Carthage built by Dido. 

820 Nineveh taken by Arbacos and Belesis, which finishes that kingdom. 

77G The first Olympiad begins in this year. 

709 Syracuse built by Arrhias of Corintli. 
7<J7 Sardanapaliis King of Assyria. 

700 The Epliori, pojJtdar Magistrates, instituted at Lacedaemon. 

757 Halyattus KingofLydia. 

754 Decennial Arcnous elected at Athens. 

752 The Ibundation of Rome by Ilomulus. 

748 Rape of tiie Sabine Women. 

747 Tiic Era uf Nabonassar made use of by Ptolemy. 

738 Candaules King of Lydia. 

724 Hezekiah tenth King of Judah. 

721 Salmanazar takes Samaria, and carries the Ten Tribes into captivity, 

whicii puts an end to the Isruelitish Kingdom. 
715 Numa Pompilius second King of Rome. 
711 Sennacherib, King of Assyria, invades Judea. 

710 Dejoces King of Media. 
708 Habakkuk prophesied. 

703 Corcyra founded by the Corinthians. 

096 ?ilanasseli sixteenth King of Judah. 

(W8 Judith kills Holofernes the Assyrian General. 

084 Annual Archons elected at Atiiens. 

081 Esarhaddon unites the Kingdoms of Babylon and Assyria. 

f,72 Tuilus Hostilius third King of Rome. 

070 Pgannncticus King of Egypt. 

t)07 The Combat between the lloratii and Curiatii. 

058 Byzantium founded by Pausanias King of Sparta. 

Phraortts King of Media. 

H40 Ancus Martius fourth King of Rome. 
^27 *rhe Forty Years of Ezekiel began. 
020 Periander Tyrant of Corinth. 

— Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, begins to reign at Babylon, 
024 Draco Archon and Legislator of Athens. 

«;iG Tarquinius Priscus fifth King of Rome. 

000 Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem^ and carries the Jews into captivity. 
bOl Battle between the Medes and Lydians. who are separated by a great 
echpse ot the sun, predicted by Thales. (Newton. Chron. 585.) 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 463 

B.C. 

COl End of the Assyrian Empire. Nineveh taken by Nebuchadnezzar. 

COO Jeremiah prophesied. 

599 Birth of Cyrus the Great. 

594 Solon Archon and Legislator of Athens. 

578 Servius Tullius si.xth King of Rome. 

572 Nebuchadnezzar subdues Egypt. 

571 Phalaris Tyrant of Agrigonium. 

5G2 Comedies first exhibited at Athens by Thespis. 

Croesus reigns in Lydia. 

551 Confucius, the Chinese Philosopher, born. 

550 Pisi.striitus Tyrant of Athens. "** 

548 The Ancient Temple of Delphos burnt by the Pisistratidsp. 

5:}8 Babylon taken by Cyrus. End of the Babylonian Empire. 

536 Cyrus ascends the tiirone of Persia. He puts an end to the Jewish 

captivity, which had lai^tcd seventy years. 
534 Tarquinius Superbus seventh King of Rome. 

Daniel prophesied. 

529 Death of Cyrus the Great. Cambyses King of Persia. 

Death of Pisistratus Tyrant of Athens. 

522 Darius, son of Hystaspes, King of Persia. 

520 The Jews begin to build the second Temple, which is finislied in font 

years. 
510 The Pisistratida? expelled from Athens, and the Democracy restored. 

Statues erected at Athens to llarmodius and Aristogiton. 

509 The Tarquius expelled from Rome and the Regal Government abol- 
ished. 

508 The first Alliance between the Romans and Carthaginians. 

504 Sardis taken and burnt by the Athenians. 

49^5 The first Dictator created at Rome (Lartius.) 

497 Institution of the Satiirnnlla at Rome. 

493 The port of PiriEUs built l>y the Athenians. 

490 The Battle of Marathon, in which Miiiiades defeats the Persians. 

488 The first Tribunes of the People created at Rome. According to 
Blair 493. 

— — Miltiades dies in prison. 

4.-*() Xerxes succeeds his father Darius in the kingdom of Persia. 

485 Coriolanus banished from Rome. 

483 Quaestors instituted at Rome. 

Arifitides banished from Athens by the Ostracism. 

480 The Spartans, under Leonidas, slain ut Thermopylo;. 

Naval Victory gained by the Greeks over the P«'rsians at Salamis. 

479 Attica laid waste and Athens burnt by Mardonius. 

Victories over the Persians at Plata;a and Mycale. 

Xerxes leaves Greece. 

477 300 Fabii killed by the Veientes. 
47lj Tliemistocles rebuilds Athens. 

Valerius triumplis over the Veientes and Sabines. 

The Roman Citizens nmnbered at 103,000. 

A great Eruption of iEtna. 

Hiero King of Syracuse. 

471 Vdlcro, the Roman Tribune, obtains a law for the election of niagis. 

trates in the cnmitia held by tribes. 
470 Cimon, son of Miltiades, defeats the Persian army and fleet in one 

day, at the mouth of the river Eurymedon. 
409 Capua founded by the Tuscans. 
404 Artaxerxes (Longimanus) King of Persia. 

Cimon banished by the Ostracism. 

463 Egypt revolts from the Persians. 

402 The Tcrentian Law proposed at Rome. 
430 Cincinnatus Dictator at Rome. 



464 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

B C 

456 The Ludi Saeculares first instituted at Rome. . -r, . , 

455 Commencement of the Seventy Prophetical Weeks of DanieL 
453 The number of the Tribunes of tlie people at Rome increased from 

Five to Ten. , , . •.. . .u- 

452 The two Books of Chronicles supposed to have been written at this 

time by Ezra. /• u t c 

451 Creation of the Decemviri at Rome, and Compilation of the Laws ot 

the Twelve Tables. , :, ^ /^- i • 

449 Peace between the Greeks and Persians concluded by Cimon, glorious 

for GrcGCG. 

Death of Virginia, and Abolition of the Decemvirate. 

445 The Law of Canuleius for the Intermarriage of the Patricians and 
Plebeians at Rome. 

Military (Tribunes created. 

437 The Censorship first instituted Jit Rome. 

4:!6 Pericles in high power at Athens. 

4o::2 Melon's Cycle of the Moon of nineteen years. 

431 The Pelopoimesian War begins, which lasted twenty-seven years. 

430 The History of the Old Testament ends about this time. 

Great Plague at Athens, eloquently described by Thucydides. 

Malachi the last of the Prophets. 

4-18 Death of Pericles. 

4*^3 Darius Netiius King of Persia. 

418 Disturbances at Rome on account of the Agrarian Law. 

414 The Athenians defeated before Syracuse. 

413 Alcibiailes, accused at Athens, flies to the Lacedaemonians. 

412 A Council of 400 governs Athens. 

405 Lysander defeats the Athenians at JE^ob Potamos. 

404 Artaxcrx«s II. (Mncmon) King of Persia. 

End of the Peloponnesian War. 

403 Lysander takes Athens. Government of the Thirty Tyrants. 
401 The younger Cyrus defeated by his brother Artaxerxes, and killed. 

Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks. 

Persecution and Death of Socrates. 

Thrasybulus drives out the Thirty Tyrants, and delivers Athens. 

309 A Leetisterniuin first celebrated at Rome. 

397 The Lake of Alba drained by the Romans. 

390 Syracuse unsuccessfully besieged by the Carthaginians. 

391 ^larcus Furius Camillus Dictator at Rome. Vcii taken. 

U:*7 Dislioiiourablc Peace of Antalcidas betweeu the Spartans and Per- 
sians. 

385 Rome taken by the Gauls under Brennus. 

382 Phrebidas, the Spartan, seizes the Citadel of Thebes. 

380 Pclopidas and Epaniinondas deliver Thebes from the Lacedsmoninns. 

371 Battle of Leuctra, in which the Laceda?iuonians are defeated by the 
Thebans under Epaminondas. 

364 Pelopidas defeats the Tyrant of Phersea, but is killed in battle. 

363 Battle of Matinea, in which Epaminondas is killed. 

362 Curtius leaps into a Gulf in the Forum at Rome. 

361 Darius Ociuis (or Artaxerxes III.) King of Persia. According to 
Blair, 358. 

358 War of tlie Allies against Athens. 

Philip of Macedon takes Amphipolis, Pydna, and Potidea. 

357 Dion overcomes the party of Dionysius at Syracuse. 
356 Alexander the Great born at Pella in Macedonia. 

The Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, burnt by Erostratus. 

The Phocian or Sacred War begins in Greece. 

- — Philip concpiers the Thracians, Pfeonians, and Illyrians. 

350 Daruis Ochus subdues Egypt. 

348 Philip of Macedon takes Olvnthus. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 465 

B.C. 

348 End of the Sacred War. 

Sfi pi-r^'".i' '!'^^'^lr^' Syracuse, after an exile of ten vears. 
346 Phihp admitted a Member of the Amphictyonic Council 

\7hcT ^' '^""^^'•^"' ^"'^ iJionysius the TyruiU finally ban- 

~ '^que^^'o^aTltaly'''" ^'""^"' ^"'^ Samnites, wliich led to the con- 
340 The Carthaginians defeated near Agrigentum. 

— F. Deems devotes himself for his country. 

W Pillf n If ''"'r ""'^ ^T"-^ ^y ?'''"P °^'*^^ '^^ Athenians and Thebaic. 
iil »[• P *''^"';" Generalissimo of the Greeks. 
Mb Fhiiip murdered by Pausanias. 

Alexander the Great King of Macedon 

— Alexander the Great destroys Thebes 
33.J Darius HI. (Codomannu.s) King of Persia 

— Alex^der chosen Gencrali.ssimo by the States of Greece. 

•^ T^'^P •■■ ''^Tr ^''« P^'-si^"" "" "'c banks of the Granicu.. 

333 The Persians defeated by Alexantler at Issus. 

ooT ^'<^^''"<^<>'" '^onquers Egvpt, and takes Tyre. 

■in Darius defeated by Alexander at Arbela. 

330 Darius Codomannus killed. End of the Persian Empire 

Alexander takes possession of Susa, and sets fire to the Palace of 

rcrsepohs. 
3-28 Alcxan,1er passes into India, defeats Porus, founds several cities. 

penetrates to the Ganges. ' 

•7^ 2"''® y">'^-« o*" ffearchus from the Indus to the Euphrates. 
•w^ ^«P"-'us Cursor, Dictator at Rome, triumphs over the Samnites. 
324 Alexander the Great dies at Babylon, at the age of thirty-thr*e. 
^,1 Ihe Samnites make the Roman Army pass under th« yoke at 

i-audium. j " » 

330 Ptolemy carries 100,000 Jews captives into Egypt. 
317 Agathooles Tyrant of Syracuse. 
312 Era of tiie Selucida;. 

311 Cassander, tysimachus, and Ptolemy, conclude a peace with Anti<'. 
onus. o 

304 Demetrius besieges Rhodes. 

303 Demetrius restores the Greek Cities to their liberty. 
3U1 Battle of Ipsus in Phrvgia, in which Antigonus is defeated and slain 

— tabiiis Maximu.s and Valerius Conus Dictators. 
MO beeucus founds Antiorh, Edessa, and Laodicea. 
206 Athens taken by Demetrius Poliorcetcs. 

294 Seleucus resigns his Wife Stratonice to his son Antiochus. 

26b Law of Hortensius, by whiih the decrees of the people were allowed 
the same force as those of the senate. 

285 The Astrononiiral Era of Dionysius of Alexandria. 

284 Ptolemy Philadelphus King of Egypt. 

283 The Library of Alexandria founded. 

281 Commencement of the Achaean League. 

280 Pyrrhus invades Italy. 

— - Antiochus Soter King of Syria. 

277 The Translation of the Septuagint made by order of Ptolemy Phila- 
delphus. Playfair, 285. 

— Antigonus GonaUis reigned in Macedon thirty-six years. 
2/0 Pyrrhus unsuccessful against the Carthaginians in Sicily. 

2>4 Pyrrhus, totally defeated by the Romans near Beneventum, evacuates 

Italy. ' 

272 The Samnites finally subdued by the Romans, 
o^- ^'^'^'' ^Io"ey is coined at Ro4ne for the first time. 
2Co The Citizens of Rome numbered at 292,224 
264 The first Punic War begins. The Chronicle of Faros compoaed. 

59 



466 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

B C 

260 Provincial Quaestors instituted at Rome. , r» -i- 

First Naval Victory obtained by the Romans under the Consul Uuilius. 

255 Regains defeated and taken prisoner by the Carthaginians under 

Xantippus. 
253 Manasseh chosen High Priest of the Jews. 
251 Great Victory of Metellus over Asdrubal. 
250 The Romans besiege Lilyboeurn ; are defeated by Harailcar. 
241 End of the first Punic War. 

Attains King of Pergamus succeeds Eumenes. 

240 Comedies are first acted at Rome. 

235 The Temple of Janus shut the first time since the reign of Numa. 

228 Hamilcar killed in Spain. 

225 Great Victory of the Romans over the Gauls. 

219 Hannibal takes Saguntum. 

218 The second Punic War begins. 

217 Hannibal defeats the Romans under Flaminius. 

Fabius Maximus Dictator. 

216 Battle of Cannie, in which the Romans are totally defeated by Han- 
nibal. 
212 Philip H. of Macedoii defeats the iEtolians. 

Marcellus takes Syracuse, after a siege of two years. 

211 Capua surrenders to the Romans. 

Antiochus the Great conquers Judaea. 

210 Asdrubal vanquished in Spain by the Scipios. 

Publius Scipio, sent into Spain, takes Nevv-Cartliage. 

206 Philopoemen Prtetor of the Achaean.?. 

203 The Carthaginians recall Hannibal to Africa. 

Sophonisba poisoned by Massinissa. 

201 Syplia.x led m triumph to Rome by P. Scipio. 

197 Philip defeated by the Romans at Cynocephale. 

196 The Battle of Zama, and end of the second Punic War. 

190 The Romans enter Asia, and defeat Antigonus at Magnesia. 

183 The elder Cato Censor at Rome. 

173 War between the Romans and Perseus King of Macedon 

172 Antiochus defeats the generals of Ptolemy in Egypt. 

170 Antiochus Epiphanes takes and plunders Jerusalem. 

169 Terence's Comedies performed at Rome. 

167 Perseus defeated by Paulus ./Emilius, and brought prisoner to Rome. 

End of the kingdom of Macedon. 
166 Judas Maccabeus drives the Syrians out of Judea. 
164 The Roman Citizens numbered at 327,032. 
149 The third Puuic War begins. ' 

147 Metellus defeats the Achacans. 
146 Corinth taken by the Consul Mummius. 

Carthage taken and destroyed by the Romans. 

137 The Romans shamefully defeated by the Numantines. 
I'.io The History of the Apocrypha ends. 

Antiochus besieges Jerusalem. 

133 Tiberius Gracchus put to death. 

Numantia taken. Pergamus becomes a Roman Province. 

121 Caius Gracchus killed. 

113 Carbo the Consul drives the Cimbri and Teutoncs out of Italj. 
Ill The Jugurthine War begins. 
108 Marius defeats Jugurtha. 
103 Jugurtha starved to death at Rome. 
102 Marius defeats the Teutones and Cimbri. 
91 The War of the Allies against the Romans. 

oH ^^;"\^?^®^^^ *'^® ^^^^^y Peligni, Saranites, &c. 

89 The Mithridatic War begins 

88 Civil War between Marius and Sylla, Sylla takes possession Of Rome. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 46> 

B C. 

8G Mithridates King of Pontus defeated by Sylla. 

83 Sylla defeats Norbanus. T^he Capitol burnt. 

82 Sylla perpetual Dictator. His horrible Proscription. 

80 Julius Ctesar makes his first Campaign. 

79 Cicero's first Oration for Roscius. 

78 Sylla resigns all power, and dies. 

77 The War of Sertorius. 

72 Liiculliis repeatedly defeats Mithridates, and reduces Pontus to a 

Roman province. 
70 Crassus and Pompey chosen Consuls at Rome. 
{j'.j Victories of Pompey. He takes Jerusalem, and restores Hyrcanus to 

the government of Judea. 
62 Catiline's Conspiracy quelled at Rome by Cicero. 
61 Pompe\- enters Rome in triumph. 
59 The first Triumvirate ; Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar. 

— Caesar proposes a new Agrarian Law. 

58 Clodius the Tribune procures the Banishment of Cicero. 
57 C.Tsar defeats Ariovistus in Gaul. 

— Cicero brought back from E.xile with high honour. 
55 Caesar lands in Britain, and makes a short campaign. 

54 Caesar invades Britain a second time, and conquers part of it. 

53 Crassus killed in Mesopotamia. 

52 Milo defended by Cicero for the slaughter of Clodius. 

49 Cffisar pa.<ses the Rubicon, and marches to Rome. 

— Commeucoinont of the Era of Autioch, October, 49 A. C. 
48 Battle of Pharealia, in which Pompey is defeated. 

— Pompey slain in Egypt. 

— The .•\le.xandrian Library of 400,000 volumes burnt. 
40 Cato be.sieiied in I/tica, kills himself 

45 The Kaloudar reformed by Julius Caesar, by introducing the Solar 
Year instead of tlie Lunar. The first Julian Year becan January J, 
4,-iA.C. ^ ^ ' 

44 Julius Ca.'sar killed in the Senate-House. 

— Octavius, graud-nephew and heir of Julius Cajsar, comes to Rome, 

and is opposed at first by Antony. 
43 Second Triumvirate ; Octavius, Mark Antony, and Lepidus. 
42 Battle of Philip|>i, in which Brutus and Cassuis are del'eated. 
40 Herod marries Mariainiie. daughter of Hyrcauus, and obtains from the 

Romans the Government of Judrca. 
34 Antony divides Aruienia among tho children of Cleopatra. 
33 Mauritania reduc-ed into a Roman Province. 
32 War declared by the Senate against Antony and Cleopatra. 
31 Bailie of Actium and end of the Roman Commonwealth. 

— Octruius Emperor of Rome. 

30 Death of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Alexandria taken by Octa- 
vius. 
Octavius receives the title of Augustus. 
23 Death of .Marcellus. Agrippa in Spain. 
20 Porus King of India senda an Embassy to Augustus. 
17 AgusJus revives the Secular Games. 
15 The RliTti and V'indelenei defeated by Drusus. 
JO The Temple of Janus shut by Augustus for a short time. 

8 Augustus corrects an Error of tlie Roman Kalendar. 

- Death of Mavc nas. 

5 Augustus ordains a Census of all the people in the Roman Empire. 
4 JESUS CHRIST is born four years before the commencement of the 
vulgar era. 
A D. 

9 The Roman Legions under Varus, destroyed in Germany. 

- Ovid the Poet banished to Tomos. 



468 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 
14 Tiberius Emperor of Rome. 
19 Germanicus dies at Antioch. 
Tiberius banislics tlie Jews from Rome. , ,, • . 

26 John the Baptist preaches in Judaa the Coming of the Messiah. 

27 Tiberius retires to the island of Caprese. 
Pilate made Governor of Judaea. 

31 Sejanus disgraced, and put to death by Tiberius. 
33 IT St. Peter first Pope. 

— JESUS CHRIST is crucified. 
35 Tlie Conversion of St. Paul. 
37 Caligula Emperor of Rome. 

39 St. Matliiew writes his Gospel. 

40 The name of Christians first given to the Disciples of Christ at An- 

tioch. 

41 Claudius Emperor of Rome. 

— Herod persecutes the Christians, and imprisons Peter. 

42 Scrgius Paulus, proconsul, converted by St Paul. 

43 Expedition of Claudius into Britain. 

44 St. Mark writes his Gospel. 
4h Vesj.asian in Britain. 

47 The Lvrli Sieculares (secular games) performed at Rome. 

48 Messaliua put to death by Claudius, wiio marries Agrippina tho 

mother of Nero. 

50 St. Paul preaches in tlie Areopagus at Athens. 

51 Caractacus, the British King, is carried prisoner to Rome. 

54 Nero Emperor of Rome. 

55 Britannicus poisoned by IS'ero. 

59 JVero puts to death his mother Agrippina. 

60 ,'uetoiiiiis Paulini'.s defeats the Britons. 

(\l The Britons, under Clueen Boadicca, defeat the Romans. 
64 The first Persecution of the Christians raised by Nero. 

— Rome set on fire by Nero. 

CG Barcas Sorrnus and Thrasea PiEtus put to death by Nero. 

— tf Pupe Linus. 

C7 Mas-acre of tlie Jews by Florus, at Cicsaroa, Ptolemais, and Alex- 
andria. 

— St. Peter and St. Paul put to death. 

— Josophus, the Jewish historian, governor of Galilee. 

— IT Pope St. Clement. 

03 Galba Emperor of Rome. 

69 Olho Emperor of Rome. 

— V itclliu^ Emperor of Ptome. 

70 Vespasian Emperor of Rome. 

— Jerusalem taken and destroyed by Titus. 

77 IT Pope St. Clet^s. 

78 A great Pestilence at Rorne, 10,000 dying in one day. 

79 TltU.S Emperor of Rome. 

— Hcrculncum and rompcii' destroyed by an Eruption of Vesuvius. 

80 Tunquestsof Agric(jla in Britain. 

81 Do tlitian Emperor of Rome. 
83 IT Pope Anaclcf.is. 

89 Apollonins of Ty^nea defends himself before Domitian against an 

accusation of Treason. 
95 Dreadful Persecution of the Christians at Rome, and in the prov- 

in ;cs. 
• — St. John writes his Apocalypse, and his Gospel. 
9G Nerva Emperor of Rome. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 4& 

AD. 

9G H Pope Evaristus. 
98 Trajan Emperor of Rome. 
— Trajan forbids the Christian Asscmbli€s. 
100 
103 The Dacians subdued by Trajan. 

107 Trajan'.s Victories in Asia. 

108 St. Ijsnatius devoured by wild Beasts at Rome. 

^ Pope Alexander I. 

1 !."> Tlic Jews in Cyreno murder 200,000 Greeks and Romans. 

117 li Pope Sixtus I. 

118 Adrian Emperor of Rome. 

Persecution of the Christians renewed by Adrian, but afterward 

suspended. 
120 Adrian's Wall built across Britain. 
127 U Pope Tolesphorus. 

131 Adrian visits Egypt and Syria. 

132 Adrian publishes his perpetual Edict or Code of the Lffws. 
13.") The Romans destroyed 580,000 Jews in Judapa. 

137 Adrian rebuilds Jerusalem by the name of iElia Capitolina. 

138 Tl Pope Hypijius. 

- Antonius Pius Emperor of Rome. 
142 tl Pope Pius I. 

150 U Pope Anicetus. 

154 Justin Martyr publishes his Apology for the Christians. 

lui Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Verus Emperors of 

Rome. 
ir.2 U Pope Soter. 

1G7 Polycarp and Pionices suffered Martyrdom in Asia. 
Itl'J War with tiie Marromanni. 
171 Death of Verus Marcus Aurelius sole Emperor. 

^ Pope Elcutherius. 

177 Persecution of the Christians at Lyons. 
180 Commodus Emporor of Rome. 
ia5 H Pope Victor I. 

189 The Saracens defeat the Romans. This people first mentioned in 
history. 

193 Portinax Emperor of Rome. Didius JulianUS purchases th« 

Ernj>ire. 

Pcscennius Niger declared Emperor in the East. 

Scptiniius Sevcrus Emperor of Rome. 

194 Ni:iPr defeated by Severus, and put to death. 

195 Byzantium besieged, surrenders to Severus. 
1% AlbillU.s proclaimed Emperor in Britain. 
197 Albinus. defeated by Severus, kills himself. 

U Pope Zephyrinus. 

200 

202 The fifth Persecution against the Christians, principally in Egypt. 

208 Severus, with his sons Caracalhi and Geta. in Britain. 

209 The Cal('d.>nians repulsed, and a Wall built between the rivers Forth 

and CIvde. 

211 Caracalla and Geta Emperors of Rome. 

212 Caracalla murders Geta. 

217 Caracalla put to death. 

- Macrinus Emperor of Romp. 

IT Pope Calixtus I. 

218 Hcliogabalus Emperor of Rome. 

Rr 



470 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

A. D. 

222 Alexander Severus Emperor of Rome. 

A Tribute paid by the Romans to the Goths 

H Pope Urban I. 

226 The Persians totally defeated by Alexander Severus. 
230 TT Pope Pontianus. 

235 IT Pope Anterus. 

Maximinus assassinates Alexander Severus, and is proclaimed Em- 
peror of Rome. 

236 The sixth Persecution of the Christians. 

- IT Pope Fabianus. 

237 JIaxiniinus defeats the Dacians and Sarmatians. 

238 Maximus and Balbinus Emperors of Rome. 
Gordian Emperor of Rome. 

212 Gordian defeats the Persians under Sapor. 
244 Philip the Al'abian Emperor of Rome. 
246 The Secular Games celebrated at Rome. Pompey's Theatre burnt. 

St. Cyprian elected Bishop of Carthage. 

24!) DeciuS Emperor of Rome. 

250 The seventh Persecution of the Christians under Decius. 

iy Pope St. Cornelius. 

251 Vibius Volusianus Emperor of Rome. 

(jallu.S Emperor of Rome. 

252 II Pope Lucius I. 

253 The Goths, Burgundians, &c. make an Irruption into Moesia and 

Pannonia. 

254 ValerianU.S Emperor of Rome. 

H Pope Stephen 1. 

257 The eii:lith Persecution of the Christians 

'^ Pope Sixtus II. 

2.5!) The Persians ravage Syria. 

II Pope Dionysius. 

260 Gallienu.S Emperor of Rome. 

The Temple of Diana at Ephesus burnt. 

2<il Sapor, the Persian, takes Antiorli, Tarsus, and Caesarea. 

267 The Heruli invade and ravage Greece. 

268 Claudius II. Emperor of Rome. 

269 The Goths and Heruli, to the number of 320,000, defeated by 

Claudius. 

TT Pope Felix I. 

270 Aurelian Emperor of Rome. 

271 The Alenianni and Marcomanni ravace the Empire. 

272 The ninth Persecution of the Christian-. 

273 Zcnobia Queen of Palmyra defeated by Aurelian at Edessa. 

274 IT Pope Eutychianiis. 

275 Tacitus Emperor of Rome. 

276 Florianus Emperor of Rome. 

277 Probus Emperor of Rome. 

2^2 Carus Emperor of Rome defeats the Quadi and Sarmatians. 

282 Carinus, NumerianUS, Emperors of Rome. 

283 IT Pope Caius. 

Fingal King of Morven died. 

284 Diocletian Emperor of Rome. 

286 The Empire attacked by the Northern Nations. 

- Carausius usurps the government of Britain, and reigns seven years. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 49* 

AD. 

290 The Gregorian and Hermogenian Codes published. 

292 Partition of the Empire by Diocletian between two Emperors and two 

Cfesars. 
205 H Pope Marcellinus. 

Alexandria in Egypt taken by Diocletian. 

300 

302 The tenth Persecution of the Christians. 

304 IT Pope Marcellus. 

Resignation of Diocletian and Maximian 

Galcrius and Constanlius Emperors of Rome. 

305 Maximinus Emperor of Rome. 

306 Constantine the Great Emperor of Rome. He stops the Per- 

secution of the Christians. 
310 IT Pope Eusebius. 

II Pope Mclchiades. 

314 TT Pope Sylvester. 

325 Constantine abolishes the Combats of Gladiators. 

He assembles the first General Council at Nice, where the Dortrinog 

of Arius are condemned. 

326 St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, introduces MonaJcMem iu t)j* 

Roman Empire. 
329 Constantine removes the Seat of Empire to Constantinople. 

336 U Pope Marcus. 

337 H Pope Julius L 

Deatii of Constantine. Tiie Empire di\ided anion;: his three Sons. 

- Constantine II., Constans, and Constantius, Emperors of 

Rome. 
352 IT Pope Liberins. 

356 ^ Pope Fchx I. 

357 The Germans defeated by Julian at Strasburg. 

358 TI Pope Felix H. 

361 Julian Emperor of Rome. He abjures Christianity, is elected Pon- 
tifex Maximus, and attempts fruitlessly to rebuild the Temple of 
Jerusalem. 

363 Jovian Emperor of Rome. 

364 Valentinian Emperor of the West. 

Valens Empcrer of the East. 

366 IT Pope Damasus. 

367 Gratian Emperor of the West. 

375 Valentinian 11. Emperor of the West. 

376 Valens allows the Goths to settle in Thrace. 

378 The Goths advance to the Gates of Constantinople. Death of Valens. 

379 Theodosius the Great Emperor of the East. 
381 Second General Council held at Constantinople. 

363 The Huns overrun Mesopotamia ; are defeated by the Goths. 

384 Symmachus pleads the cause of Paganism against St. Ambrose in tl)« 

Senate. 

385 IT Pope Syricius. 

392 Theodosius Emperor of the West and East. 

395 Al'Cadius Emperor of the East, and Honorius of the West. 

The Huns invade the Eastern Provinces. 

307 St. Chrysostom chosen Patriarch of Constantinople. 
399 !T Pope Anastasius. 

Gainas the Goth obtains Honours from Arcadius. 



472 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

400 

Alaric the Goth ravages Italy. 

401 If Pope Innocent I. 

403 Stilicho, General of Honorius, defeats Alaric near Pollentia. 

404 Fergus I. King of Scotland, supposed to have begun Ids reign. 
406 The Vandals, Alans, Sic. invade France and Spain. 

408 Theodosius II. Emperor of the East. 

410 Rome sacked and burnt by Alaric. Death of Alaric 

411 The Vandals settled in Spain. 

41G The Secular Games celebr.Htcd at Rome. 

The Pelagian Heresy condemned by the Bishops of Africa. 

417 IT Pope Zozimus. 

418 IT Pope Boniface I. 

420 Pharumond first King of the Franks sappoeed to have begun his 

reign. 
422 IT Pope CEplestinus. 

424 Valentinian III. Emperor of the West. 
42() The Romans withdraw firmlly from Britain. 
428 iEtius, the Roman General, defeala the Franks and Gothi; 
4;n The third General Council held at Ephesus. 
4:52 IT Pope Sixtus III. 
435 The Theodosian Code published. 

439 Generic the Vandal invades and plunders Italy. 

Endocia the Empress, wife of Theodosius, retires to Jerusalem. 

Carthage taken by the Vandals. Kingdom of the Vandals in Africa. 

4-10 IT Pope Leo the Great. 

442 Theodosius forced to make a di.^graceful Peace with Attila the Hun. 

Attila causfes his brother Bleda to be murdered. 

445 Tiie Britons in vain solicit the Romans to assist them against the Pict» 

and Scots. 
44.5 Attila the Hun overruns Illyrium, Thrace, Dacia, Moesia, and Scythia 
44a The Romans engage to pay a heavy Tribute of Gold to Attila. " 

440 Meroratus King of the Franks. 
4o0 Marcian Emperor of the East. 

Attila ravages Germany and France. 

451 Theodoric King of the Visigoths killed in battle. The Huns defeated 

by /Etius. 
The Saxons arrive in Britain under Hengist and Horsa. 

The fourth General Council held at Chajcedon. 

452 Foundation of ihe city of Venice. 

4.''.5 Pctromius MaxiniUS Emperor of the West. 

AvitUS Emperor of tire West. 

Rome taken and plundered by Genseric the Vandal. 

45G Childeric King of the Franks. 

457 Leo the Great Emperor of the East. 

Majorianus Emperor of the West. 

4GI Severu.s Emperor of the West, raised by Ricimer. 

r Pope Hilarius. 

467 AnthemilK Emperor of the West. 

468 Eric King of the Visigoths drives the Romans out of Spain. 
—^ 1i Pope Simplicius. 

II? ^'i!^ ^^^ ^^-''"" ^'^^^^^ possession of the Kingdom of Sussex. 

471 /Ella defeats all the British Princes. 

472 Great Eruption of Mount Vesuvius, eeen from Constantinople. 

Oly bius Emperor of the West. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 4?3 

AD. 

473 Glycerius, Emperor of the West, degraded and stripped by 

474 J ulius NepOS Emperor of the West. 

Zero Emperor of the East. 

AugUStulus Romulus Emperor of the West, raised by his father 

Orestes, General of Ncpos. 
476 Ore.^tes put to death by Odoacer King of the Heruli. 

Roine taken by Odoarer now king of Italy. 

Extinction of the Wester:* Empire of the Romans, 507 years 

from the battle of Actium, and 1224 from the building of Rome. 
481 Clovis King of the Franks. 

Zeno makes Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, his General, and creates him 

Consul. 

483 U Pope Felix III. 

48.5 Battle of Soissons gained by Clovis. 

^66 Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, entirely defeats Odoacer, and is acknowl- 
edged King of Italy by the Emperor Zeno. 

490 The Burgundians, under Gondebald, ravage Italy. 

Ireland, called the Isle of Saints, famous for its Schools. 

491 Ana.Stasius Emperor of the East. 
493 Odoacer put to death by Theodoric. 

496 II Pope Anastasius II. 

497 Clovis and the Franks converted to Cliristianity. 

498 IT Pope Symmachus. 

499 Alliance between Clovis and Theodoric the Great 
500 

GondebaJd, the Burgundiaii, becomes tributary to Clovis. 

501 The Burgundiun Laws published by Gondebald. 

502 Cabades King of Persia ravages part of the Eastern Empire. 
504 The Eastern Empir« makes ])race with Cabades. 

507 Clovis defeats Alaric the Visigoth, and receives a congratulatory em- 

bassy, with a diadem, from Anastasius. 

508 Theodoric the Great defeats Clovis in the battle of Aries, and then 

makes peace with him. 

510 Clovis makes Paris the capital of the kingdom of the Franks. 

511 Death of Clovis. Division of his kingdom among his four sons, 

Childeberf, Thierry, Clotairc, and Cloflomir, Kings of the Fninks. 

.'lis The Heruli allowed by Anastasius to settle in Thrace. 

514 II Pope Ilormisdas. 

51.5 Arthur king of liic Britons supposed to have begun his reign. 

516 The Computation of Time by tjje Christian JEia. introduced by Die- 

nysius the Monk. 

517 The Get.-E ravage Illyrium, Macedonia, and Epirus. 

518 Ju.Stin I. Emperor of the East raised from obscurity. 

519 Justin restore,B the Orlhodox Bishops, and condemns the Eutychians. 

Cabades King of Persia proposes that Justin should adopt his son 

Cosroes, and makes war on a refusal. 
523 H Pope John I. 

525 The Arian Bishops deposed by Justin, and this act highly resented by 

Theodoric. 

Antiocli and many other cities almost destroyed ^y an earthquake^ and 

rebuilt by Justin, who adopts his nephew Justinian. 

526 Theodoric puts to death Boethius and Symmachus. 

H Pope Felix IV. 

327 Justinian I. Emperor of the East. 

529 Belisarius, General of Justinian, defeats the Persians. 

The Books of the Civil Law published by Jublinian. 

530 IT Pope Boniface II. 

Kr2 60 



474 • CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

532 Justinian congratulates Cosroes on sucrcpding to the throne of Persia, 

and concludes a perpetual peace with him. 

Great Insurrection at Constantinople quelled with prodigious slaughter 

by Belisarius. 

533 Aihalaric King of the Ostrogoths dies, and is succeeded by his mother 

Anialasonta. 

TI Pope John II. 

534 Thcodohert King of Metz. 

Belisarius defeats Gelimer and the Vandals in Africa. 

535 IT Pope Agapetus. 

536 H Pope Sylvester. 

537 Belisarius subdues the Ostrogoths in Italy, and takes Borne. 

538 1\ Pope Vigilius. 

540 Belisarius refuses to accept the crown of Italy. 
543 Totila, the Goth, recovers Italy from the Romans. 

547 Totila takes and plunders Rome. 

548 Theobald Kin<r of Mctz. 
540 Rome retaken by Belisarius. 

5.")0 Connnencement of the kingdom of Poland under Lechus. 

Rome recovered by Totila. 

.551 Tlie manufacture of Silk introduced into Europe. 

5.'>3 Totila defeated by Narses the Eunuch, and put to death. 

5.">5 TI Pope Pelagius I. 

5.^3 The Huns, breaking into Thrace, are defeated by Belisarius. 

559 Belisarius degraded, and ungratefully treated by Justinian. 

Clotuirc sole King of France. 

5C0 IT Pope Julm III. 

Belisarius restored to his Honours and Command. 

502 Curibert. Gontran Sigchcrt, and Chilperic, Kings of France. 

5()5 Justin II. Emperor of Rome. 

5CG Narses, recalled from Italy, invites the Lombards to take possession 

of the country. 
508 Italy conquered by the Lombards. 
571 Birth of Mahomet the false Prophet. 
574 IT Pope Benedict I. 
578 Tiberius II. Emperor of the East. 

V, Pope Pelugius II. 

580 The Latin Tongue ceases to be spoken in Italy about this time. * 

582 Maurice Emperor of the East. 

584 Clotuirc II. King of Soissons. I 

590 Antioch again destroyed, with 30,000 inhabitants, by an Earthquake. ; 

Ti Pope Gregory the Great. 

590 Thierry II. and Theodohcrt II. Kings of Paris and Austrasifi.. 

Augustine tiie Monk converts the Saxons to Clirisliartity. 

COO 

002 PllOCas Emperor of the East acknowledges the Supremacy of Ui« 

Popes. 
C04 IT Pope Sabinianua. 

007 1i Pope Boniface IV. 

The Pantheon at Rome Dedicated to God, the Virgin, and the Saints. 

008 IT Pope Boniface IV. 

009 The Jews of Antioch massacre the Christians. 
611 Heraclius Emperor of the East. 

013 The French Blaires du Palais first introduced by Clotaire as Regents, 
(•14 Cloiuire II. sole King of France. 

Queen Bruncchilda, accused of numberless crimes, is put to death by 

Clotaire II. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 475 

AD. 

C15 ^ Pope Deus-dedjt. 

C16 Jerusalem taken by the Persians under Cosroes II. 

618 H Pope Boniface V. 

622 Era of the Hegyra, or Fliglit of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina. 

625 ^ Pope Honorius I. 

The Persians under Cosroes II., with the Huns, Abari, and Sclavo- 

nians, besiege Constantinople. 
628 Dagobert and Chnribert Kivgs of France. 

632 Death of Mahomet. Abubeker succeeds him as Caliph of the Sara- 

cens. 

633 Abubeker dies, and is succeeded by Omar in the Caliphate. 

636 Jerusalem taken by Omar and the Saracens, who keep possession of it 

463 years. 
638 Sigebcrt II. and Clovis //. Kings of France. 
640 TI Pope Severinus. 

IT Pope John IV. 

The Library of Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, is 

burnt by tiie Saracens. 
C41 Con.Stantine, Emperor of the East for a few months, poisoned by 
his step-mother. 

Hcr^clionas and Tiberius III. Emperors of the East. 

642 Constans, son of Constantine, Emperor of the East. 

IT Pope Theodorus. 

645 Otman succeeds Omar in the Caliphate. 

643 Cyprus taken bv the Saracens under Mawia. 
649 V Pope Martini. 

653 The Saracens take Rhodes, and destroy the Colossus. 
6.54 Childeric II. King of Jlustrasia. 

- IT Pope Eugenius I. 

6-55 Ali Caliph of Arabia. Mawia Caliph of Egypt. 
657 If Pope Vitalianu^. 

653 The Saracens obtain Peace of the Emperor Constans, and agree to 
pay a yearly tribute. 

668 Constaiilius V. (Poeonatus) Emperor of the East. 

669 Sicily ravaged by the Saracens. 
672 IT Pope Adeodatus. 

The Saracens ineffectually besiege Constantinople. Their fleet de- 

stroyed by the Greek Fire used by Callinicus. 

675 The Saracens attempt to land in Spain, but are repulsed by Wamba 

King of the Visgoths. 

676 TT Pope Donus. 

679 Thierry IV. King of all France. 

TT Pope Agatho. 

680 The sixth General or CEcumenical Council of Constantinople. 
682 TT Pope Leo II. 

684 IT Pope Benedict IL 

685 IT Pope John V. 

Justinian II. Emperor of the East. 

The Britons, totally subdued by the Saxons, retreat into Wales and 

Cornwall. 

686 IT Pope Canon. 

686 Ceadwalla King of Wessex subdues Sussex and Kent. 

687 IT Pope Sergius. 

690 Pepin Heristel, Maim du Palais, defeats Thierry, and acquires the 

chief power in France. 
692 Clovis III. King of France. 

694 Justinian II. dethroned, mutilated, and banished by Leontius, 

695 Gildebert III. King of France. 



476 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

A. D. 

695 LeontiuS Emperor of the East. Dethroned and mutilated bj 

697 Apsimar or Tiberius Emperor of the East. 
699 The Saracens defeated by John the Tatrician. 

700 

The Saracens again defeated with great slaughter by Heraclius, brother 

of Tiberius. 
701 IT Pope John VL 

704 Justinian escapes from prison, defeats Tiberius, and is restored to the 
. tlironc. 

707 Justinian II. defeated by the Bulgarians. 

708 II Pope Sisinnius. 

IT Pope Constantiue. 

7U Philippicus Bardancs Emperor of the East. 

Dagobcrt III. King of France. 

713 Anastasius II. Emperor of the East. 

Spain conquered by the Saracens under Muca, the general of th& 

Caliph Waiid. 

714 IT Pope Gregory 11. 

Theodo.sius Emperor of the East. 

Charles Jlartcl, Maire du Palais, governs all France for 26 years. 

716 Child^ric II. King of France. 

Leo (the Isurian) Emperor of the East. 

7'.20 Omar II. besieges Constantinople without success, 

Thierry IV. King of France. 

726 Leo forbids tlie Wors^hip of Iniajres, which occasions a great rebellion 
of his subjects. Tlio Pope defends the practice. 

728 Leo orders Popo Groj;ory to be seized and sent to Constantinople ; 

but the order is frustrated, and Leo confiscates the Imperial Do- 
mains of Sicily and Calabria. 

729 The Saracens ravage Gallia Narbonneiisis. 

731 ^ Pope Gregory III. 

732 Charles Martel defeats the Saracens between Tours and Poictiers. 
73(i Leo persecutes the Monks. 

737 Death of Pelagiu*, wlio preserved the Christian Monarchy in Astoria. 

740 The Duchy of Spolelo seized by the Normans. Recovered by the 

Pope. 

741 U Pope Zachary. 

742 CIdldcric HI. King of France 

Coiistantine (Copronymus) Emperor of the East. An enemy to 

images and saint worship. 

743 lie defeats and puts to death Artabazdus, who had seized Constan- 

tinople. 
745 He destroys the fleet of the Saracens. 

749 The Race of the AbassidiE become Caliphs of the Saracens. 
751 Pepin (le Bref) King of France, founder of the second or Carlovin- 

gian Race. 
7.j2 it Pope Stephen III. 
7.53 Astolphus King of the Lombards erects the Dukedom of Ravenna, 

and claims from the Pope the Dukedom of Rome. 
754 Pope Stephen requests the assistance of Pepin against the Lombards. 

Pepin invades Italy, and strips Astolphus of his new possessions, con- 

lerring them on the Pope as a temporal sovereignty. 
'' —^ Almanzor Caliph of the Saracens, a great encourager of learning. 
75C Desiderius, or Dider, proclaimed King of the Lombards, with the 

Popes consent. 
, Abdalrahman I. takes the title of King of Cordova, and is the founder 

of the Bolendid dominion of the Moors in Spain. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 477 

AD. 

757 V Pope Paul I. renews the alliance with Desiderius. 
759 IT Pope Stephen IIL quarrels with Desiderhis. 

762 AInianzor builds Bagdat, and makes it the seat of the Empire of tb« 

Caliphs. 
[ 767 The Turks ravage Asia Minor. 

763 Charles (the Great) and Carlo tnan, Kings of France. 

TI Pope Stephen IV. 

770 Constantine dissolves the Monasteries in the East. 
772 Charlemagne sole Monarch of France. 

He makes war against the Saxons. 

TI Pope Adrian l. 

774 Charlemaiine defeats Desiderius, and puts an end to the kingdom of 

the Lombards, which had subsisted 206 years. 

775 Leo IV. Emperor of the East. 

778 Battle of Roncezvalles between the Christians and Jloors in Spain, 

wiiere Rolando is killed. 

779 Charlemagne conquers Navarre and Sardinia. 

781 Constantine (Porphyrogonitus) Emperor of the East. 

Irene, Empress, is Regent in her sons Minority, and keeps him ia 

entire subjection. 
— — She re-establishes the worship of images. 

785 Charlemagne subdues the Sa.xons. 

Haroun Alraschid Caliph of the Saracen*. 

- — He invades and ravages a part of the Empire. 

786 Constantine assumes the government of the Empire, and imprison! 

his mother. 

787 The Danes first land in England. 

The seventh General Council, or second of Nice. 

788 Irene puts to death her fion Constantine, and is proclaimed sale Em- 

press. 

793 Irene proposes to marry Charlemagne, which being disapproved by 

her subjects, she is dethroned, and confined to a monastery. 

NiccpIlOruS Emperor of the East. 

794 Charlemagne defeats and extirpates the Huns. 
;— TI Po{ie Leo III. 

797 The ^aracen8 ravage Cappadocia, Cyprus, Rhodes, &c. 

Nicephorua asspciates his son Saturacius in the Empire. 

800 

New E.MPIRE or the Wf;sT. Charlemagne crowned Emitfror at 

Rome. 
807 Haroun Alraschid courts th» alliance of Charlemagne. 
811 Michael (Curopalates) Emperor of the East. 

813 Leo (the Armenian) Emperor of the East. 

Almamon, Caliph of the Saracens, a great cncourager of learning. 

814 Lewis (le Debonnaire) Emperor of France. 

816 The Eastern Empire ravaged by Earthquakes, FAmine, Conflagra- 

tions, «&c. 
810 Tf Pope Stephen V. 

817 IT Pope Pascal I. 

Lewis (le Df b.) divides the Empire among his sons. 

621 Michael (Balbus or the Stammerer) Emperor of the East. 
824 % Pope Eugene II. 

827 lEtjlJttt unites the kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy. Beginnina 

of the kingdom of England. 

IT Pope Valentine. 

828 Gregory IV. 

829 Theophilus Emperor of the East. 



478 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, 

AD. 

838 3Ett)eItD0lf King of England. 

The Scots under Kenneth entirely subdue the PictS. 

840 LOTHARIIS Emperor of Germany. 

Charles {the Bald) King of France. 

841 Lotharius defeated by his two brothers in the battle of Fontenai, and 

deposed. 

842 LEWIS (of Bavaria) Emperor of Germany. 
Michael III. Emperor of tlie East. 

843 The Normans plunder the city of Rouen. 

844 TI Pope Sergius IIL 

845 The Normans plunder Hamburgh, and penetrate into Germany. 

847 IT Pope Leo IV. 

848 The Venetian Fleet destroyed by the Saracens. 

851 H Pope Joau supposed to have tilled the Papal chair for two years. 

Basilius associated Emperor of the East. 

855 LEWIS II. Emperor of Germany. 

857 i2ti)Cli)aITl and KtijClfttCt Kings of England. 

858 ti Pope Nicholas I. 

806 l2ti)ClCCtJ King of England. 
8(i7 The Danes ravage England. 

Basilius sole Emperor of the East. 

*! Pope Adrian II. 

Potius. Patriarch of Constantinople, excommunicates Pope Adrian. 

ii72 '^IfCCtr (tlio Great) King of England. 

^ Pope Jolm VIII. 

fc'75 ClI.^HLES (the Bald) Emperor of Germany. 

b77 LEWIS (the Stammerer) Emperor of Germany and King of France. 

879 Lettis III. and Carlnman, Kings of France. 

The kingdom of Aries begins. 

880 CH.iRLES (the Gross) Emperor of Germany and King of France. 

Ravagers of the Normans in France. 

882 IT Pope ]Marinus. 

884 tr Pope Adrian III. 

886 Leo (the Philosopher) Emperor of the East. 

The University of Oxford founded by Alfred. 

887 .'iRJVOLD, Emperor of Germany. 

The Normans besiege Paris, which is gallantly defended by Bishop 

Goselin and Count Eudes. 

888 Evilis or Otio King of France. 

890 Alfred the Great composes his Code of Laws, and divides England 

into Counties, Hundreds, and Tithings. 

891 IT Pope Formosus. 

896 IT Pope Stephen VII. 

897 If Pope Jolin IX. 

898 Charles III. {the Simple) King of France. 
900 

IT Pope Benedict IV. 

LEWIS IV. Emperor of Germany. 

901 lEl)U)(Ttt( (the Elder) succeeds Alfred as King of England. 

904 TT Pope Leo V. 

905 IT Pope Sergius HI. 

911 COAKID I. Emperor of Germany. 

Constantine IX. Emperor of the East. 

912 Tlie Normans are established in Normandy under Rollo. 

913 IT Pope Anastasius. 

914 IT Pope Landon. 

915 Constantine and Romanus Emperors of the East. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, «7^ 

AD. 

915 :T Pope John X. 

The University of Cambridge founded by Edward the Elder. 

920 HEXRY (the Fowler) Emperor of Gerniany. 

923 Rodol/jh King of France. 

f>25 UtijelStan King of England. 

928 H Pope Leo VI. 

9-29 U Pope Stephen VIII. 

931 II Pope John XI. 

936 OTHO (the Great) Emperor of Germany. 

Ti Pope Leo VII. 

Leicis IV. {d'Oiitremer) King of France. 

939 II Pope Stephen IX. 

940 Howei-Dha, King of Wales, an eminent Lawyer. 

941 JHtfmUntr L King of England. 
943 ^ Pope Mariniis XIII. 

946 H Pope Agapet. 

943 Htiretl King of England. 

9.'')4 Lothnriu.'i King of France. 

9.55 l£TlU)|) Kins of England. 

956 H Pope John XII. 

959 Romanus II. Emperor of the East. 

3S,tiQSt King of England. 

963 H Pope Leo VIII. 

Nicephoru.S Phocu.s Emperor of the East. 

964 Otho the Great conquers Italy. 

965 H Pope John XIII. 

967 Aritioch recovered from the Saracens by Nicephorus. 
969 John Zcmisses Emperor of the East. 

972 11 Pope Benedict VI. 

973 OTHO II. Emperor of Germany. 

974 H Pope Boniface VII. 

975 II Pope Benedict VII. 

- Basilius and Constantine X. Emperors of the East. 

976 lETltoaCTl II. King of England. 
978 2£tf}ClrCtJ II. King of England. 

983 OHIO in. Emperor of Germany. 

984 H Pope John XIV. 
986 II Pope John XV. 

Lewis V. {I.e Faineant) King of France. 

Hugh Capet, King of France, founder of the Third Race of the French 

Kings. 
991 The Arabic numeral Ciphers first introduced into Europe. 
996 Robert (the Wise) King of France. 

Ti Pope Gregory V. 

999 TI Pope Sylvester II. 

1000 

1002 HEXRVII. Emperor of Germany. 

Great Massacre of the Danes by Ethelred King of England. 

1003 V, Pope John XVI. 

Tl Pope John XVII. 

1004 TI Pope John XVIII. 

1005 Cliiirches first built in the Gothic style. 
1009 H Pope Sergius IV. 

1012 H Pope Benedict VIII. 

1013 The Danes, under Sueno, get possession of England. 
1015 Tlic Maniclipan Doctrines prevalent in France and Italy. 
lOlG iStimUnll H. (ironside) King of England. 



480 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

1016 Six Battles fought with the Danes under Canute in England, 

1017 (tnnUtt the Dane (the Great) King of England. 

1018 The Normans invade Italv. 

1024 H Pope John XIX. or XX. 

COA'RJID II. (tlie Salic) Einpcror of Gormany. 

1025 Musical Characters invented by Guido Aretino. 
1028 Romanus Argyrus Emperor of the East. 
1031 Henry I. Kins; of France. 

1033 H Pope Benedict IX. 

1034 Michael IV. Emperor of the East. 

1036 pJiirOlTl 11. (Ilarefoot) Kin? of England. 

1039 H'E^'^iY III. Emperor of Germany. 

— Canute n. or l&artJicantitf Kin- of England 

1040 Macbetli usurps the Throne of i^cotland by the murder of Duncan. 

1041 SStlUiatti III. (the Confessor) King of England, restores the Sax- 

on line. 
Michael (Calaphale-s) Emperor of the East. 

1042 Constantiue (Monomaehus) Emperor of the East. 

1043 The Turks, under Tangrolipix, subdue Persia. 

1045 H Pope Gregory VI. 

1046 Ti Pope Clement II. 

1048 IT Pope Damasus II. 

1049 ^ Pope Leo IX. the first Pope who maintained a regular army. 

1054 Theodora Emperor of the East. 

Pope Leo IX. taken prisoner by the Normans. 

1055 U Pope Victor II. 

The Turks take Bagdat, and overturn the Empire of the Caliphs. 

1056 HEXRY IV. Emperor of Germany. 

10.57 Malcolm III. (Canmore) King of Scotland. 

Isaac (Comncnus) Emperor of the East. 

TT Pope Stephen X. 

1058 If Pope Nicholas II. 

— -^ The Saracens driven out of Sicily hy Robert Guiscard the Norman. 
10.59 Con.Stantine XII. (Ducas) Emperor of the Eaet. 

1060 Philip I. King of France. 
10(il % Pope Alexander II. 

1065 The Turks take Jerusalem from the Saracens. 

1066 JlVirOltJ n. King of England reigned nine months. 

2l2?llU'am (the conqueror) King of England. 

1068 Romanus Diogenes Emperor of tlie East. 

Edgar Allieling seeks refuge in Scotland. 

1068 Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling, married to Malcolm King of Scot- 
land. 

1070 The Feudal Law introduced into England. 

1071 Michael Ducas Emperor of the East. 
1073 IT Pope Gregory VII. 

1076 The Emperor Henry IV. excommunicated and deposed by the Pop*. 

1078 NicephorU-S (Boton) Emperor of the East. 

1079 Doomsday-book begun by William the Conqueror. 

1061 Alexius I. (Coranenus) Emporor of the East. 

Henry IV. Emperor besieges Rome. 

1084 He is re-crowncd Emperor of Germany. 

1086 TI Pope Vi. tor III 

1087 U Pope Urtaa II. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 481 

AD. 

1087 SmCUiam II. (Rufus) King of England. 

1093 iSt. Margaret Queen of Scotland died. 

IJonald Bane King oi^ Scotland. 

1095 iJuncan II. King of Scotland. 

— — The first Crusade to the Holy Land. Peter the Hermit. 

1098 The Crusaders take Antioch. 

— — Jc^dgar King of Scotland. 

1099 Jerusalem taken by Godfrey of Boulogne. The Knights of St. John 

instituted. 

IT Pope Pascal II. 

1100 

l^^tltrg I. (Beauclcrc) King of England. 

1102 Guisr;ird of Normandy takes the title of King of Naples. 

1104 Baldwin King of Jerusalem take? Ptolemais. 

1106 HEJVRY V. Emperor of Germany. 

1107 Alexander I. King of Scotland. 

1108 Lcicis VI. {le Gros) King of France. 
1118 IT Pope Gclasius IL 

The order of Knights Templars instituted. 

John (Comnonus) Emperor of the East. 

11)9 ^ Pope Calixtus H. 

1124 David I. King of Scotland. 

TT Pope Honorius II. 

3125 LOTfLlRWS II. Emperor of Germany. 

1130 IT Pope IiuocBiit II. 

1135 cStepJjCn King of England. 

1137 Lewis VII. {le Jcune) King of France. Married to Eleanor of Gui- 

enne. 

The Pandects of the Roman Law discovered at Amalphi. 

1138 COjXRAD III. Emperor of Germany. 

— — The Scots, under David I., defeated by the English in the battle of the 
Standard. 

1139 Alphonso I. King of Portugal rescues his kingdom from the Saracens. 

1140 The Canon Law first introduced into England. 

1141 Stephen King of England taken prisoner in the battle of Ijncoln by 

tiie troops of Matilda. 

1143 He recovers his kingdom. 

IT Pope Cailestinus II. 

Manuel (Comnenus) Emperor of the East. 

1144 IT Pope Lucius II. 

1145 IT Pope Eugene HI. 

1147 The second Crusade excited by St. Bernard. 

1150 The study of the Civil Law r(!vived at Bologna. 

1151 The Canon Law is collected by Gratian, a Monk of Bologna. 

1152 FREDERICK I. (Barbaro.ssa)' Emperor of Germany. 

1153 Malcolm IV. King of Scotland. 

^ Pope Anastasius IV. 

Treaty of Winchester. Compromise between King Stephen and 

Pxince Henry. , 

1154 Stents II- (Plantagenet) King of England. 

TT Pope Adrian IV. 

The parties of the Gnelphs and Ghibellincs disturb Italy. 

11.57 The Bank of Venice instituted. 

1158 Interview between Henry II. and Malcolm IV. at Carlisle. 

1159 IT Pope Alexander IH. 

Ss 61 



462 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

1160 The Albigenses maintain heretical doctrines. 

1164 Institation of the order of the Teutonic Knights in Germany, 

T. Becket condemned by the Council of Clarendon. 

1165 William (the Lion) King of Scotland. 
1171 T. Becket murdered at Canterbury. 
117"2 Conquest of Ireland by Henry II. 
1180 Philip Augustus King of Fiance. 

IISI Alexius II. (Comnenus) Emperor of the East. 
1183 11 Pope Lucius III. 

Andronicus (Comnenus) Emperor of the East. 

1185 IT Pope Urban III. 

Isaac Angelus Emperor of the East. 

lltiT TI Pope Gregory VIII. 

The city of Jerusalem taken by Saladin. 

1188 H Pope Clement HI. 

1189 jUittattr I. (C<rur de Lion) King of England. 

The third Crusade nnder Richard I. and Philip Augustus. 

1190 HEXRY VI. Emperor of Germany. 

1191 H Pope Caelestinus HI. 

1192 Richard I. defeats Saladin in the battle of Ascalon. 

Guy of Lusignan King of JerusaJem. 

1195 Alexius Angelus (the Tyrant) Emperor of the East. 
1198 PHILIP Emperor of Germany. 

1; Pope Innocent HI. 

] 199 ^9iiVi King of England. 

1200 

1-202 The fourth Crusade sets out from Venice. ^ 

Constantinople taken by the French and Venetians. 

1203 Alexius and Murbzuphlus Emperors of the East. 

1204 Baldwin 1. Emperor of Constantinople, and TheodorC I. (Las- 

caris) Emperor of Nicspa. 

The Inquisition established by Pope Innocent III. 

1200 Henry Emperor of Cunsiantinople. 

J208 OTHO IV. Emperor of Germany. 

London incorporated, obtains a charter for electing a Mayor and 

Magistrates. 
1210 Crusade against the Albigenses, under Simon de Montfort. 
1212 FREDERICK II Emperor of Germany. 

1214 Alexander II. King of Scotland. 

1215 Magna Charta signed by King John. 

1216 %}t\\X^ III- King of England. __^ 

Peter and J ohn Ducas Emperors of the East. 

1219 Robert Emperor of the East. 

Damietta taken by the Crusaders 

1223 Lewis VIII. King of France. 

1220 ^\ Pope Ilonorius HI. 

St. Lewis IX. Kino- of France. 

1227 H Pope Gregory IX. 

Gengiskan and the Tartars overrun the Empire of the Saracens. 

1228 Baldwin II. French Emperor of Constantinople. 
1234 The Inquisition committed to the Dominican Monks. 
1237 Pvussia brought under subjection by the Tartars. 
1241 IT Pope Caelestinus IV. 

1243 IT Pope Innocent IV. i 

X24S The fifth Crusade under St. Lcwi^. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 483 

AD. 

1249 Alexaiulcrin. King of Scotland. 
1251 C0NR.1D IV. Emperor of Germany. 

1254 IT Pope Alexander IV. 

Literregnum in the Empire of Germany, from the death of Conrad IV. 

in 1254, to the election of Rodolph in 1273. 

1255 Theodore II. (Lascaris) Emperor of Nicaea. 

1258 Bagdat taken by the Tartars. End of the Empire of the Saracens. 

1259 -'ohn (Lascaris) Emperor of Nicffia. 

12G0 Michael (Palaeologus) Emperor of Nicaea. 

The Flagellants preach Baptism by Brood. 

12G1 IT Pope Urban IV. 

The Greek Emperors recover Constantinople from the French. 

12G3 The Norwegians invade Scotland, and are defeated by Alexander III. 

in the battle of Largs. 
1264 IT Pope Clement IV. 

The Deputies of Boroughs first summoned to Parliament in England. 

Henry HI. of England taken prisoner in the battle of Lewes. 

1205 Charles Count of Anjou King of Sicily. 

1270 FhiUp III. {the Bold) King of France. 

1271 U Pope Gregory X. 

1272 SStJtoar^ l. (Longshanks) King of England. • 

1273 RODOLPH (of Hapsburg) Emperor of Germany, first of the Austri- 

an Family. 

1276 ^ Pope Innocent V. 

H Pope Adrian V. 

IT Pope John XXI. 

1277 TT Pope Nicholas IIL 

1281 IT Pope Martin IV. 

1282 The Sicilian Vespers, wlien 8,000 French were massacred. 

1283 Androiiicus I. (Palseologus) Emperor of the East. 
— — — The conquest of Wales by Edward I. 

1285 IT Pope Honorius IV. 

Philip IV. {the Fair) King tf France. 

1286 JVInrgaret (of Norway) Queen of Scotland. 
1288 IT Pope Nicholas IV. 

1900 Interregnum in Scotland for two years. Competition between Bruce 
and Baliol for the crown, decided by Edward I. 

1291 Ptolcmais taken by the Turks. End of the Crusades. 

1292 John Baliol King of Scotland. 

JIDOLPHUS (of Nassau) Emperor of Germany. 

IT Pope Caelcstinus V. 

1293 From this year there is a regular succession of English Parliaments. 

1294 IT Pope Boniface VIII. 

1295 Michael Andronicus Emperor of the East. 

1296 Interregnum in Scotland for eight years. Sir William Wallace nobly 

supports the liberty of his country, defeats the English at Sterling, 

and drives them out of the kingdom. 
1298 Wallace chosen Regent of Scotland, defeated at Falkirk. 
-— ALBERT I. (of Austria) Emperor of Germany. 
■ The present Turkish Empire begins under Ottoman in Bithynia. 

1300 

1301 Qjuarrel between Philip the Fair and Pope Boniface VIII. 

1302 Comyn and Eraser defeat the English thrice in one day. 

The Mariner's Compass said to be discovered at Naples. 

1304 Wallace betrayed, delivered up, and put to death by Edward I. 

1306 Robert I. (Bruce) King of Scotland. 



484 • CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

1307 The Establishment of the Swiss Republics. 

iStrtaattl II. King of England. 

1308 HEXRY VII. Emperor of Germany. 

TT Pope Clement V. 

The seat of the Popes transferred to Avignon for soventjr years. 

1310 Rhodes taken by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. 

1311 Pierce Gaveston, favourite of Edward II., put to death. 

1312 The Knights Templars suppressed by Philip the Fair. 

1314 The Scots under Robert Bruce defeat the English under Edward IL 

at Bunnockburn. 

LEWIS V. (of Bavaria) Emperor of Germany. 

Lewis X. (Ilniin) King of France. 

1315 John King of France. 

1316 H Pope John XXII. 

Philip V. {the Long) King of France. 

13'20 Andronicus IJ. (Palaeologus) Emperor of the East. 
ISai Charles IV. (the Fair) King of France. 
1327 ?t:tri2JaCtr m. King of England. 
13Ji8 Phiiip VI. {of Valois') King of France. 

1320 David II. King of Scotland. Randolph Earl of Murray Regent. 

1331 The Teutonic Knights settle in Prussia. 

1332 Edward Baliol, assisted by Edward III., in crowned at ScoHe King of 

Scots, but is soon driven out of the kingdom. 

1333 Casimir III. (the Great) King of Poland. 

1334 U Pope Benedict XII. 

1340 Gunpowder invented by Swartz, a Monk of Cologne. 

Oil Painting invented by John Van Eyke. 

1341 John V. (PalfEologus) Emperor of the East. 
John Cantacuzcnos, liis governor, usurps the tiirone. 

1342 V Pope Clement VI. 

134G Battle of Cressy vtoji by Edward III. and the Black Prince over th« 
French. 

Battle of Durham, in which David II. of Scotland is taken prisoner. 

1347 CHJRLES IV. Emperor of Germany. 

Cola Rienzi assumes the Government of Rome. 

1350 The Order of t!ie Garter instituted by Edward III. 

Peter (the Cruel) King of Castile. 

lo.")l John IL King qf France. 

13.">2 V, Pope Innocent VI. 

The Turks first enter Europe 

1356 The Battle of Poictiers, in which John II. King of Franae is taken 

prisoner, and afterwards brought to London. 
13(^2 U Pope Urban V. 

The Law-pleadings in England changed from French to English. 

1346 Charles V. King of France. 

1370 Tf Pope Gregory XI. 

Robert II. King of Scotland. 

1377 The Seat of the Popes removed back fiom Avignon to Rome. 

2^itCf?^aU'5j II. King of England. 

VVickiifre's Doctrines propagated in England. 

137b The Schism of the double Popes at Rome and Avignon begins and 
continues thirty-eight years. 

IT Pope Urban VI. of Rome. 

IT Pope Clement VII. of Avignon. 

1373 WEJVCESL.fUS Emperor of Germany, deposed in 1400. 

1380 Charles VI. King of France. 

■ Tamerlane invades and subdues Chorassar. 

1381 Wat Tyler's and Jack Straw's Insurrection in England. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 485 

AD. 

1381 Peace between Venice and Genoa. 

Bilk of Exchange first used in England. 

1383 Cannon first used by the English in the defence of Calais. 

1384 Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, succeeds to the Earldom of 

Flanders. 
1386 Tamerlane subdues Georgia. 

1388 Battle of Otterburn between Percy (Hotspur) and Douglas. 

1389 IT Pope Boniface IX. 

4390 Robert III. king of Scotland 

1391 Manuel II. (Paloeologus) Emperor of the East. 

1392 The Cape of Good Hope discovered by the P :>rtugue8e. 

1394 The Jews banished from France by Charles VI. 

H Pope Benedict XIII. 

1395 Sigismund King of Hungary defeated by Bajazet I. 

1398 Tamerlane subdues part of Hindoostan, and takes Delhi. 

1399 fJbtnVS IV. King of England. 
1400 

1402 Bajazet is taken prisoner by Tamerlane in the battle of Angoria. 

Battle of Halidoun Hill, in which the Scots are defeated. 

1403 Battle of Shrewsbury, in which Hotspur is killed. 

1404 IT Pope Innocent VII. 

1405 Death of Tamerlane. 

140G J ames I. King of Scotland. 

IT Pope Gregory XII. 

1409 Council ef Pisa, where Pope Gregory is deposed. 

IT Pope Alexander V. 

1410 JOSSE (Marquis of Brandenburgh) Emperor of Germany. 

TT Pope John XXIII. 

1411 SIGISMU.YD Emperor of Germany. 

The University of St. Andrews in Scotland founded. 

1413 fi}tnvyi V. King of England. 

1414 Council of Constance, in which two Popes were deposed, and Pope- 

dom remained vacant near three vears. 

1415 Henry V. defeats the Frencli at Aglncoiirt. 

John Huss condemned by the Council of Constance for Heresy and 

burnt. 
141G Jerome of Prague condemned by the same Council, and burnt. 
1417 IT Pope Martin V. 

Paper first made from liHen rags. 

1420 The Island of Madeira discovered by the Portuguese. 

1421 John VI. (Palaeologus) Emperor of the East. 

1422 Amurath besieges Constantinople. 
fi^Cnrg VI. King of England. 

Charles I'll. King of France. ' 

James I. King of Scots liberated from captivity by the English. 

1425 The Court of Session in Scotland instituted by James I. 

1428 Joan of Arc, the ^Maid of Orleans, compels the English to raise the 

sieee of that town. 
1431 IT Pope Eugene IV. 

Rise of the Medici family at Florence. 

143G Paris recovered by the French from the English. 

1437 James II. King of Scotland. 

1438 ALBERT 11. Emperor of Germany. 

1439 Reunion of the Greek and Latin Churches. 

The Pragmatic Sanction established in France. 

1440 FliEDERICK HI. Emperor of Germany. 

Invtntion of the art of Printing by John Guttenberg at Strasburg. 

o s 2 



4S6 * CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

1444 Ladislaus King of Hungary killed in battle with the Turks. 

1445 Constnntine (Pal.tologua) Emperor of the East. 
144() Great Iiunulation of the sea in Holland. 

1447 IT Pope Nicholas V. 

Rise of the Sforza Family at Milan. 

14.53 Constantinople taken by the Turks. Extinction of the EastsriT 
Empire ok the Romans. 

End of the Enirlish government in France. 

1455 II Pope Calixuis III. 

Battle of 8t. Albans; where Henry VI. is taken prisoner by the Dukfl 

of York. 

1458 IT Pope Pius II. ^.Tineas Sylvius.) 

1459 The art of Engraving on copper invented. 

14G0 •) amcs III. King of Scotland. 

Bnttk; oP WakefiTeld, in which the Duke of York is killed. 

1461 IHljiljaCtl IV. King of England. 

Lavis XI. King of Fravre. 

1470 Henry VI. restored to the throne of England. 

1471 Battle of Barnet, where War\\ ick is killed. Battle of Tewksbury, 

where the Lancastrians are totally def.iated. 

Edward IV. restored. Prince Edward of Lancaster basely murdered 

by Clarence and Gloucester. Death of Henry VI. 

V Pope Si.xtus IV. 

1474 The Cape dc Verd Islands discovered by the Portuguese. 

1475 Edward IV. invades France. Peace of Pecquigni purchased by the 

French. 
1470 Ferdinand and Isabella unite the kingdoms of Arragon and Castile. 

Rii.-t;ia freed from subjection to the Tartars by John Basilwitz. 

1483 Charles VIII. King of France. 

IStftotTrtl V. King of England. Duke of Gloucester Protector. 

Edward V. and his brother murdered. 

iliCijartr ni. King of England. 

14ri4 T; Pope Innocent VIII. 

]4'r5 Batllc of Bosworth, in which Richard III. is killed. 

?^fnVW VII. King of England, first of the house of Tudor. Union 

of the nouses of York and Lancaster. 

148? «l ames IV. King of Scotland. 

14yi Granada taken by Ferdinand and Isabella. End of the kingdom of 
the Moors in Spain. 

1492 i: Pope Alexander VI. (Borgia.) 

Ilispaniola and Cuba discovered by Christopher Columbus. 

1493 M.'iXIMILL^.r I Emperor of Germany. 

1494 Expedition of Charles VIII. hito Naples. 

Algebra first known in Europe. 

America discovered by Columbus. 

1497 The Portuguese, under Vasco de Gama, double the Cape of Good 

Hope and soil to the East Indies. 
1493 Lewis Xll. king of France. 

Savanorala burnt by Popo Alexander VI. for preaching against the 

vices of thf clergy. 
1499 Lewis XII. takes possession of the Milanese. 

• Seba.stian Cabot lands in North America. 

1500 

— ■ — Brazil discovered by the Portngnesc. 

— • — Maximilian divide* Germany into six Circles, and adds four mor» in 

1512. 
1503 ? Popfi Pius HI. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 4W 

AD. 

1503 IT Pope Julius IL 

Battle of Cerizoles, in which the French lose Naplet. 

1504 Philip I. King of Spain. — 1500 Jane his Queen. 

1507 Madagascar discovered by the Portuguese. 

1508 Le.u^ue i)i' Cambray against the Venetians. 

1509 f^CUrP VIIL King of England. 

Battle ofAgnadello, May 14. 

1511 Cuba conmiered by the ."Spaniards. 
1513 Cattle of Flodden, fatal to the Scots. 

•! ames V. King of Scotland. 

H Pope Leo X. 

1515 fVancis I. King of France. 

151C Charles I. (Emperor Charles V.) King of Spain. 

■ Barbarossa seizes the Kingdom of Algiers. 

1517 Tiie Reformation in Germany begun by Luther. 

The Turks put an end to the reiiin of the Mamelukes in Egypt. 

1518 Leo X. condemns Luthor"s Doctrines. 

1519 CHARLES V. Emperor of Germany. 

. Fernando Cortez engages in the conquest of Mexico. 

1.520 Sweden and Denmark united. 

Massacre at Stockholm by Christicrn IL and Archbishop Trollo. 

1.521 ^ Pope Adrian VI. 

Gustavus Vasa King of Sweden. 

Cortez completes the conquest of Mexico. 

1523 The first Voyage round the World performed by a ship of Magellan's 
squadron. 

1.523 Solyman tiie Magnificent takes Belgrade. 

II Pope Clement VII. 

1.524 Sweden and Denmark embrace the Protestant faith. 

1.525 Battle of Pavia, in which Francis I. is taken prisoner by Charles V. 
152G Treaty of Madrid between Charles V. and Francis I., when the lattei 

is set at liberty. 

1527 Rome taken and plundered by Charles V. 

Pizano and Dalinagro invade the Empire of Peru. 

1528 Revolution of Genoa by Andrea Doria. 

Gustavus Eriscon crowned King of Sweden. 

1529 Diet of Spires asainst the Huguenots, then first termed Protestants. 

Peace of Cambray, August 5. 

1530 The League of Smalcald between the Protestants. 

1531 Michael Sen^etus burnt for heresy at Geneva. 

1532 The Treaty of Nuremberg, August 2. 

The Court' of Session in Scotland new-modeled by James V. 

1534 The llefijrmntion in England. 

H Pope Paul III. 

Barbarossa seizes the Kingdom of Tunis. 

Jack of Leydcn heads tlie Anabaptists at Munster. 

1535 The Society of the Jesuits instituted by Ignatius Loyola. 

Expedition of Charles V. against Tunis. 

15:^8 Treaty of Nice between Cliarles V. and Francis I. 

1540 Dissolution of the Monasteries in England by Henry VIIL 

1542 iVlary Queen of Scotland. 

1544 The Freucli defeat the troops of Charles V. in the battle of Cerizolaa, 

The treaty of Crepi. 
J545 The Council of Trent begins, which continued eighteen years. 
1.54G Cardinal Beaton, of St. Andrew's, assassinated. 
1547 Fiesco's Conspiracy at Genoa. 

The Battle of Mulberg, in which the PrOtestantg are defeated, and th« 

Elector of Saxony taken prisoner. 

SEtliDartl VI. King of Englarrd. 



488 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

l.')47 Henry II. King of France. 

1548 The Interim granted by Charles V. to the Protestants. 

1550 IT Pope Julius III. 

1552 The Treaty of Passau between Charles V. and the Elector of Saxony, 

fijr the Establishment of Lutheranism. 

1553 t^aV^ Queen of England. 

Lady Jane Grey beheaded. 

15.55 IT Pope Marcellus II. 

IT Pope Paul IV. 

Many Bishops burnt in England by Mary. 

1-5.56 FERDm.GJVD I. Emperor of Germany. 

Philip II. King of Spain. 

1.557 Philip II. defeats the French at St. Quintin. 

1.5.58 22It5ai)rtlj Queen of England. 

1559 TI Pope Pius IV. 

' Francis 11. King of France. 

Treaty of Catteau-Cambresis. 

1500 Charles IX. King of France. 

Conspiracy of Amboise formed by the party of Conde against that of 

Guise. Beginning of the Civil Wars in France. 

The Reformation completed in Scotland by John Knox. 

1561 Mary Queen of Scots arrives in Scotland from France. 

1.569 Battle of Dreux. Victory of the Guises over Conde. 

1564 MAXIMILMjX II. Emperor of Germany. 

1566 T[ Pope Pius VI. 

Revolt of the Netherlands from Philip II. 

1567 The Duke of Alva sent by Philip to the Netherlands. 

»l ames VI. King of Scotland. 

1568 Mary Queen of Scots flees to England for protection. 

Philip II. puts to death his son Don Carlos. 

1569 The Earl of Murray, Regent of Scotland, assassinated by Hamilton. 

The battles of Jaruac and Moncontour in France, in which the Prot- 

estants are defeated. 

1571 Naval Victory at Lepanto, where the Turks are defeated by Don John 

of Austria. 

1572 IT Pope Gregory XIII. 

The Massacre of St. Bartholomew, August 24. 

1574 Henry HI. King of France. 

Socinus propagates his opinion.?. 

Don Sebastian King of Portugal invades Africa. 

1576 RODOLPHUS II. Emperor of Germany. 

The League in France formed against the Protestants. 

1579 Commencement of the Republic of Holland, by the union of Utrecht. 

1580 Philip II. takes possession of Portugal. 

The World circumnavigated by Sir Francis Drake. 

1582 The New Style introduced into Italy by Pope Gregory XIII., the 5th 
of October being counted the 15th. 

1.584 William I. Prince of Orange murdered at Delft. 

Virginia discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh. 

1.585 IT Pope Sixtus V. 

1587 Mary Queen of Scots beheaded at Fotheringay. 

1.588 Destruction of the Spanish Armada by the English. 

1589 Henry III. of France murdered by Jaquez Clement. 

Henry IV. {the Great) King of France. 

1590 The battle of Ivry, which ruins the league in France. 

IT Pope Urban VII. 

^ Pope Gregory XIV. 

1591 The University of Dublin erected. 

IT Pope Innocent IX. 



i 



i 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 48S 

A. D, 

1592 Presbytevfan Church Government established in Scotland. 

U Pope Clement VIII. 

1594 The Bank of England incorporated. 

1598 Edict of Nantes, tolerating the Protestants in France. 

Peace of Verins concluded between Prance and Spain. 

Philip III. King of Spain. 

Tyrone's rebellion in Ireland. 

1600 

Cowrie's Conspiracy in Scotland. 

The Earl of Essex beheaded. 

The Englisli East India Company established. 

1602 Decimal Arithmetic invented at Bruges. 

1G03 JJatnCS 1. King of Great Britain. Union of the crowns of England 

and Scotland. 
1605 The Gunpowder Plot discovered. 

. U Pope Paul V. 

1608 Galileo discovers the Satellites of Jupiter. 

Arininius propagates his opinions. 

1610 Henry IV. of France murdered by Ravaillac. 

Lewiis HI. King of France. 

The Moors expelled from Spain by Philip III. 

Hudson's Bay discovered. « 

1611 Baronets first created Ln England by James I. 

1612 MJITTHMS Emperor of Germany. 
1614 Logarithms invented by Napier. 

1616 Settlement of Virginia by Sir Walter Raleigh. 

1618 The Synod of Dort in Holland. 

1619 Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood by Dr. Harvey. 

FERDIjYJiJ\'D II. Emperor of Germany. 

Vanini burnt at Thoulouse for Atheism. 

1620 The Battle of Prague, by which the Elector Palatine loses his EleC» 

torate. 
— — The English make a settlement at Madras. 

Navarre united to France. 

1621 Philip IV. King of Spain. 

— — Batavia, in the Island of Java, built and settled by the DutcJf. 

Tf Pope Gregory XV. 

1623 IT Pope Urban VIII. 

1625 CJt^arlCS I. King of Great Britain. 

The Island of Barbadoes the first English settlement in the West 

Indies. 

1626 League of the Protestant Princes against the Emperor. 
1632 Gustavus Adolphus killed in the battle of Lutzen. 

Christina Queen of Sweden. 

1635 The French Academy instituted. 

1637 FERDIJVJiJVD III. Emperor of Germany. 

1638 Bagdat taken by the Turks. 

^— The Solemn League and Covenant established in Scotland. 
1640 John Duke of Braganza recovers the kingdom of Portugal. 
16-11 The Irish Rebellion, and Massacre of the Protestants, October 23. 

The Earl of Stratford beheaded. 

1642 Bejrinning of the Civil War in England. The battle of Edgehill, 

October 23. 

1643 Lewis XIV. King of France. 

Ann of Austria Regent of France. 

Archbishop Laud condemned by the Commons, and beheaded. 

1644 IT Pope Innocent X. 

Revolution in China by tiie Tartars. 

1645 Charles I. defeated in the battle of Nas.eby. 

62 



490 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

1648 The Peace of Westphalia. The Civil War of the Fronde at Paris. 

1649 Charles L of England beheaded. 

Comitionwealth of England begins. 

1650 The Slarqnis of Montrose put to death. 

Battle of Dunbar. Covenanters defeated by Cromwell. 

1651 The battle of Worcester won by Cromwell. 
16-52 The first War between the English and Dutch. 

1654 End of the Commonwealth of England. Oliver Cromwell Lord Pro- 

tector. 

The English, under Admiral Penn, take posEession of Jamaica. 

Christina Queen of Sweden resigns the Crown to Charles X. 

1655 T. Pope Alexander Vn. 

1658 LEOPOLD L Emperor of GermaHV. 

Kichard Cromwell Lord Protector of England. 

1659 The Peace of the Pyi-enoes between France and Spain. 

l^GO (ti}WC\tU II. King of Great Britain. Restoration of Monarchy. 

The Peace of Oliva between Sweden, Denmark, and Poland. 

1662 The Royal Society instituted in England. 

]66;5 Charter of Carolina, and a colony settled soon after. 

The French Academy of Inscriptions instituted. 

1664 The second Dutch War begins. 

1665 Charles II. King of Spain. 

Great Plague in Londun. 

lt')66 (ir«at Fire in London. 

The Academy of Science instituted in France. 

Sabatei Levi, in Turkey, pretends to be the Messiah. 

1667 The Peace of Breda, which confirms to the English Pennsylvania, 

New- York, and New-Jersey. 

II Pope Clement IX. 

1668 The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 

1669 The Island of Candia taken by the Turks. 

1670 li Pope Clement X. 

1672 Lewis XIV. conquers great part of Holland. 

Tiie De Witts put to deatli in Holland. 

1674 John Sobieski King of Poland. 

1676 ^ Pope Innocent XI. 

1678 Tlie Peace of Nimeguen, July 31. 

The Habeas Corpus act passed in England. 

1679 The Long Parliament of Charles II. dissolved. 
1681 Peter the Great Czar of Muscovy. 

1683 Execution of Lord Russel, July 21. 

Execution of Algernon Sydney, December 7. 

The Siege of Vienna by the Turks raised by John Sobieski. 

1685 j^amtfi II. King of Great Britain. 

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Lewis XIV. 

Duke of Monmouth beheaded. 

1686 The Newtonian Philosophy first published in England. 

The League of Augsburg against France. 

1688 Revolution in Britain. King James abdicates the throne, Decem- 

ber 23. 

1689 ®Si.liUlfrm and JHaX*2 King and Queen of Great Britain. 

Episcopacy abolished ia Scotland by King William. 

IT Pope Alexander VIII. 

1690 Battle of the Bovne, July 1. 

1691 IT Pope Innocent XII. 

1692 Battle of La Hogue, May 19. 

The Massacre of Glencoe in Scotland, January 31. O. S. 

Battle of Steedkirk. King William defeated by Luxemburg, July 24. 

Hanover made tlie ninth Electorate of the Empire. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. m 

AD. 

1G95 Namur taken by King William, June 25. 
1G97 Peace of Riswick concluded, September 11. 

Charles XII. King of Sweden. 

1(399 Peace of Carlovitz concluded, January 26. 
1700 

Philip V. King of Spain. 

H Pope Clement XI. 

1701 Deatli of James II. at St. Germain's. 

1702 ^UnC Queen of Great Britain. War against France and Spain. 

The Engli;:]i and Dutch destroy the French Fleet at Vigo. 

The French send colonies to llio Mississippi. 

1703 Gibrahar taken by Admiral Rooke, July 24. 

1704 Battle of Blenheim. The French defeated by Marlborough and 

Prince Eugene, August 2. 
. Peter tlie Great founds St. Petersburgb. 

1705 The English take Barcelona. 

JOSEPH I. Enn)eror of Germany. 

1706 Battle of Ramilies. The French defeated by the Duke of Marlbo- 

rough, May 12. 
The Treaty of Union between England and Scotland, signed July 22. 

1707 The battle of Almanza. The French and Spaniards, under the Duke 

of Berwick, defeat the allies, April 14. 

1708 Battle of Oudenarde. The French defeated by Marlborough and 

Eugene, June 30. 

Minorca taken by General Stanhope, September 18. 

1709 Battle of Pultowa. Charles XII. defeated by Czar Peter, June 30. 

Battle of Malplaquet. The French defeated by Marlborough and 

Eugene, September 11. 
1711 CHJiRLES VI. Emperor of Germany. 

1713 The Peace of Utrecht signed March 30. 

1714 CStOrflt 1. Elector of Hanover, King of Great Britain. 

1715 Lewis XV- King of France. 

The Rebellion of Scotland. Battle of SherifT-muir, November 13. 

1716 Prince Eugene defeats the Turks at Peterwaradin. 

1718 Charles XII. of Sweden killed at the siege of Frederickshall. 
3721 II Pope Innocent XIII. 

1724 IT Pope Benedict XIII. 

1725 Death of Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy. Catharine Empress. 

1726 Great Earthquake at Palermo, August 21. 

1727 ®?COrflC II. King of Great Britain. 

1727 Treaty of Copenhagen between Great Britain and Denmark. 

The Spaniards besiege Gibraltar, May 20. 

1728 Treaty between Great Britain and Holland, May 27. 

The Congress of Soissons, June 14. 

1729 Treaty of Seville between Great Britain, France, and Spain, Novem- 

ber 9. 

1730 H Pope Clement XII. 

Christian VI. King of Denmark. 

The Persians under Kouli-Khan defeat the Turks. 

1731 Treaty between Great Britain, the Emperor, and King of Spain, 

July 22. 

1733 The Jesuits expelled from Paraguay, January. 

Frederick III. King of Poland. 

1734 Commercial Treaty between Great Britain aad Russia, December 2. 

1735 The French defeat the Imperialists in Italy. 

1736 Peace between Spain and Attstria. 

Kouli-Khan (Nadir-Schah) proclaimed King of Persia, September 29 

1737 War declared between the Emperor and the Turks, July 2. 

1738 The Russians invade the Crimea. 



49S CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

1739 Nadir-Schah conquers the greater part of the Mogul Empire. 

Treaty between Great Britain and Denmark. 

Peace between the Emperor and the Turks, August 21. 

■ Peace between Russia ami the Turks, November. 

1740 Frederick IIL (the Great) King of Prussia. 

IT Pope Benedict XIV. 

War between Poland and Hungary. 

1741 War declared between Russia and Sweden. 

The Prussians masters of Silesia, October 20. 

1742 Peace between Austria and Prussia, Jujie 11. 

Defensive Alliance between Greut Br*tain and Prussia, November 18. 

CHJiRLES VII. (of Bavaria) Euiporor of Germany. 

1743 Defensive Alliance between Great Britain and Russ^ia, February. 

War in Germany between the British, Hungarians, French, and 

Austrians. 
— — The French defeated by the allies at Dettingen, June 6. 

1744 War declared in Great Britain against France, March 31. 

The King of Prussia takes Prague. 

Commodore Anson completes his Voj-age round the World. 

1745 FRJIJVCIS I. (of Lorraine) Emperor of Germany. 

' Quadruple Alliance between Britain, Austria, Holland, and Poland, 

January 3. 

The allied army defeated by the French at Fontenoy, April 30. 

Louisburg and Cape Breton taken by the British troops, June 6. 

The Rebellion breaks out in Scotland, July. 

Treaty of Dresden between Prussia, Poland, Austria, and Saxony, 

December 25. 
174G Ferdinand VL King of Spain. 

Frederick V. King of Denmark. 

Count Saxe tak€s Brussels and Antwerp. 

Victory of CuUoden, which puts an end to the Rebellion in Scotland, 

AprillG. 

Lords Balmerino and Kilmarnock beheaded, August 18. 

Count Saxe defeats the allies at Raucoux, October 11. 

Dreadful Earthquake at Lim.a in Peru, October 17. 

1747 Kouh-Khan murdered. Revolution in Persia. 

1748 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle between Great Britain, France, Spain, Av^^^ 

tria, Sardinia, and Holland, October 7. 

1750 Joseph King of Portugal. 

Academy of Sciences founded at Stockholm. 

1751 Adolphus of Holstein King of Sweden. 

Peace between Spain and Portugal. 

1752 New Style introduced in Britain, September, 3 reckoned 14. , 
17.53 The British Museum established in Montague house. 

1754 Great Eruption of ^tna. 

Great Earthquake at Constantinople and Cairo, September 2. 

1755 Lisbon destroyed by an Earthquake, November 1. 

1756 War declared between Great Britain and France, May 18. 

1757 Tlie King of Prussia conquers Silesia. 
17.58 V Pope Clement XIH. 

1759 The French defeated by the allied army at Minden, August 1. 

Charles HL King of Spain. 

■ The Jesuits expelled from Portugal, Septemher 3. 

General Wolfe takes Quebec in Cj'u.ida, September 17. 

1760 Montreal and Canada taken by the British, September 8. 

@ftOtrg0 in. King of Great Britain, October 25. 

1762 Peter IH. Emperor of Russia. 

The Jesuits banished from France, August. 

Peace between Great Britain and France at Foiltainebleau, Novem- 

ber 3. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 403 

AD. 

1763 Peace between Great Britain, France, and Spain, at Pans, February 10. 

Catharine IL Empress of Russia. 

1764 Stanislaus XL King of Poland. 

Byron's Discoveries in the South Seas. 

17G.5 JOSEPH JI. Emperor of Germany. 

1766 The Jesuits expelled from Bohemia and Denmark. 
Christian VIL King of Denmark. 

1767 The Jesuits expelled from Spain, Genoa, and Venice. 

Discoveries of Wallis and Carteret in the South Seas. 

1768 Royal Academy of Arts established at London. 

The Jesuits expelled from Naples, Malta, and Parma. 

Bougainville's Discoveries in the South Seas. 

1769 H Pope Clement XIV. 

Cook's first Discoveries in the South Seas. 

Corsica taken by the French, June 13, 

1770 Earthquake at St. Domingo. 

1771 Gustavus III. King of Sweden. 

1772 Revolution in Sweden, August 19. 

Poland dismembered by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. 

1773 Cook's second Voyage and Discoveries. 

The Society of Jesuits suppressed by the Pope's bull, August 85. 

1774 Lewis XVI. King of France. 

177.5 Battle of Bunker's Hill in North America, June 17. 

1776 TI Pope Pius VI. 

The Americans declare their Independence, July 4. 

1777 Mary Queen of Portugal. 

Surrender of the British Army under Burgoync at Saratoga, in the 

state of New- York, October 17. 

1778 League between the French and Americans, October 30. 

1779 Peace between the Imperialists and Prussians, May 13. 

Great Eruption of Vesuvius, August 8. 

Siege of Gibraltar by the Spaniard.'?, July. 

Captain Cook killed in the Island of Owyhee. 

1780 Great Riots in London on account of the Popish Bill, June 9. 

War declared between Great Britain and Hollar.d, December 20. 

1781 Surrender of the British Army under Cornwallis to the Americans and 

French at Yorktown in Virginia, October 18, 

1782 Sii- G. Rodney defeats the French fleet off Dominica, April 12. 

1783 Peace between Great Britain, France, and Spain, and the Independ- 

ence of America declared, January 20. 

1784 Peace between Great Britain and Holland, May 24. 

1785 Treaty of Alliance between Austria, France, and Holland, Novem- 

ber 9. 

1786 Frederick IV. King of Prussia. 

1788 Defensive Alliance between England and Holland, April 25. 

1789 Selim III. Grand Seignior, April. 

George Washington first President of the United States, April. 

— — The Bastille at Paris taken and destroyed, and the Governor massa- 
cred, July 14. 

1790 Monastic Establishments suppressed in France, February 13. 

War commenced in India with Tippoo Sultan, May 1. 

LEOPOLD U. Emperor of Germany. 

1792 FRANCIS //. Emperor of Germany. 

Gustavus III. King of Sweden assassinated by Ankerstrom, Mareli 29. 

Gustavus IV. King of Sweden. Duke of Sudermania Regent in his 

minority. 

The Thuilleries attacked. The Kfng and Queen of France take 

refuge in the National Assembly. The Swiss guards massacied by 
the populace, August 10. 
— — The Royal Family of France imprisoned in the Temple, August 14 



404 CHllOxNOLOGICAL TABLE.', 

A. D. 

1792 A dreadful massacre of the state-prisoners at Paris, September 2, 3. 

The National Convention is constilnted, the King deposed, and France 

declared a Republic, September 21. 

Savoy incorporated with the French Republic, November 27. 

Lewis XVL is brought to trial, and answers each article of accusation, 

Det'i'mber 14. 
1703 Lewis XVL condemned to death by a majority of five voices, Janua- 
ry 17, and beiieaded, January 21. 

Russia declares war against France, Janiinrv' 31. 

The FreiK h Convention declares war against England and Holland, 

February 1. 

Queen of France condemned to death and beheaded. October 15. 

1794 Robespierre, with his chief partit;ans. guillotined, July 28. 

1795 The Stadtholder takes refuge iii England. Holland overrun by the 

French, January. 

Lyons bombarded, laid in ruins, and all its loyal inhabitants massacred. 

May. 

Lewis XVIL died in prison at Paris, June 8. 

Tlie Cape of Good Hope taken by the British, September 16. 

Belgium incorporated with the French Republic, S'eptembt^r 30. 

Stanislaus IL resigns the Crown of Poland. The kingdom divided 

Ix'tv.ecn Russia, Austria, and Prussia, November 2o. 

1796 The French overrun and plunder lialy. 

Death of Catharine IL Paul Enipiiorof Russia, November 17. 

1797 Jf.l.n Adams President of the United States, March 4. 

The DulcJi Fleet beaten and captured by Admiral Duncan, Octo- 

ber 11. ^■ 

1798 The Papal (lovernment suppressed by the French. Tlic Pope quits 

Rome, February 2tj. 

Ireland in open reb'^llioii. May, June. &c. 

Admiral Nelson destroys the French Fleet in the battle of the Nile, 

August 1. 

The Swiss finally defeated, and their Independence abolished, Sep- 

tember 19. 

1799 Seringapatam taken by General Harris, and Tippoo Sultan killed, 

May 4. 
— ^- Death of Pope Pius VI., September. 

A Revidution at Paris. Bonaparte declared First Consul, Decem- 

ber 25. 
1800 

Union of Britain and Ireland. 

Bonaparte defeats the Austrians in the battle of Marengo in Italy, 

June 14. 

Armistice belvveon the French and Austrians in Germany, July 15. 

The new Pope, Pius VII., restored to Ins government by the Emperor, 

July 25. 

Malta taken by the British, Septembers. 

1801 First mecling of the Imperial Parliament of Britain and Ireland, 

January. 

Thomas Jefferson President of the United States, March 4. 

Death of Paul. Alexander I. Emperor of Russia, March 23. 

Battle of Copenhagen, in which tlie Danes are defeated by Lord Nel- 

son, April 3. 

1802 The Catholt Religion rc-establishi.d in France, March. 

Treaty c.'" peace between Britain and France. 

Tlie King of Sardinia resign.j his crown to his brother, July. 

Bonaparte declared Chief Consul for life, July. 

War between France, and Germany, and Russia, m which the French 

are succesitiil. 

1803 War between Britain and France. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 49» 

AD. 

lcS04 Emperor of Gennany assumes the title of Emperor of Austria Au- 
^ gust 11. 

Bonaparte- croicned Eviperor of France, Deceviber 2. 

1805 Bonaparte Kino; of Italy, Marcli. 

Lord kelson defeats the combined fleets of France and Spain off Cape 

Trafalgar, takes or destroys 1!) shijis of the line, and is killed in the 
bailie, October 21. 

War between England and Spain. 

1806 Louis Bonaparte, crowned King of Holland, June. 

The British Parliament vote the Abolition of ihe Slave Trade, June 10. 

Francis II. resi.jns the office of Emperor of Germany, August 2. 

— War between France and Prussia. 

Battle of Jena and total defeat •)f the Prussians, October IJ. 

1807 War between France and Russia, in whicli the French are successful. 

Copenhagen taken by the British, and tiie Danish fleet carried to Eng- 

land. 

Treaty of Peace between France, and Russia, and Prussia. 

1808 Abolition of the Slave Trade in the United States of Aumrica, Jauua- 

ryi. 

War between Russia and Sweden. 

Bonaparte seizes Portugal, and the Royal Family flee to Brazil. 

Bonaparte seizes the Royal Family of Spain. War between FrancA 

and Spain. 
1800 Battle of Corunna, January 10. 

Fall of Saragossa, February 21. 

James Madison President of the United States. Mar<»h 4. 

Gustavus IV. King of Sweden deposed, and CharicdXIlI. proclanned, 

March 13. 

War between France and Austria, April 6. 

French enter V^ienna, May 12. 

War between Russia n:id Austria, May 22. 

The Papal Stat*» united to France, June 1. 

Battle of T;>iavera, July 2-1. 

Peace of Vienna between Austria and France, October 14. 

1810 Bonaparte divoncs the Empress Josephine, January IG. 

He liiiu-rics the Arcli-Duchess Maria Louisa <if Austria, April 1. 

Louis Bonaparte abdicates tiie tJirone of Holland, July 1. 

Holland anne-:ed to the French. 

Population (if the United States, 7,230,003. 

1811 Prince of Wales i^ppointed Re{;ent. February 8. 

— — Two hundred buildings and large quantities of goods bunit in New* 
buryport, Mass. 

Massacre in Cairo, when about 1,000 Mamelukes lost their lives, 

March 1. 

A I'on born to Napoleon Bonaparte, styled King of Rome, March 20. 

Batavia captured by the English, August 8. 

An unusually large comet appeared, September 1. 

Richmond Theatre burnt, December 2u. 

1812 Great Earthquake at Carracca.s, March "iO. 

Perceval, Prime Minister of England, assassinated. May 11. 

War against Great Britain declared by the United States, June 18. 

General Hull and his army taken prisoners in Canada, August 16. 

Battle of Sincdensko, August 17. 

Battle of Moskwa, Septeml>er 7. 

The French army enter Moscow, 14th September. 

■ British Frigate (Juerriere captured, August 20. 

do. do. Macedonia captured, October 25. 
do. do. Java captured, December 20. 

1813 Lewis XVIII. publishes an Address to the people of France, Feb- 

ruary 1. 



496 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 

AD. 

1813 Treaty between Great Britain tmd Sweden, March 3. 

Fweden declares War against France, March 3. 

The Russian troops enter Hamburgh, Marcli 18. 

I*riig!tia joins Russia against France, March. 

Spanish Inquisition abolished by the Cortes, April. 

Battle of Vittoria, in i^pain, June 2. 

Austria declares War n^^ainst France, August 11. 

General Rlorcau killed, August 28. 

Commodore Perry captures the British squadron, on lake Erie, Sep- 

tember 10. 

Buttle ol" Ltipsic, October 10. 

The Prince of Orange assumes the title of Sovereign Prince of th« 

Netherlands, Di-^ember 2. 

The KussiaiiB and their Allies enter France, December 23. 

1814 The I'ope ielr:ised by Bonaparte, January 23. 

Lord VVellin^lon took po^;session of Bordeaux, February 13. 

Paris capitulates to the Allies, Marcii 30. 

The AllieB euter Paris, April 1. 

A'apoleon Bonaj>arte dethroned, April 4, and banibhed to the Island of 

Elba, for which ho sails, April 28. 
— — Louis XVIII., Icing called to the throne of FraJice, made his enKy 
into Paris, May 3. 

General Peace in Europe, May 30. 

Tlic Allied Sovereigns visit London, June 8. 

Iriquisition restored iu Spain, July 18. 

Ncrvvav annexed to Sweden, August 14. 

City ot^ Washington taken by the British, August 24. 

British Squadron on Lake Cliamplain captured by CoiuiQodure M'DoB- 

ough, September li. 

General Congress of Viemia, November 7. 

Pensaoola ta.ken by General Jackson, November 7. 

Treatv of Peace between the United States aod Great Britain signsd 

at Ghent, December IM. 

The British repulsed at NovV-Orleans, December 28. 

1815 The British complef«ly defeated and General PackeHham slain at 

New-Orleans, January 8. 

United Slates Frigate l^rtsident taken by a British squadron, Janua* 

ry 15. 

Peace between Great Britain and the L'nited States ratified Februa- 

ry 94. 

Bonaparte sailed from Elba, February 26 — lands in France, March 1— 

enters Paris, March 20.. 

Bonaparte left Paris to meet the Allie«, May 2. 

Battle of Waterloo, June 17 and 18. 

Bonaparte surrenders himself to the British, July 15. 

I Joachim Murat, King of Naples, shot for High Treason, October 13«. 

Bonaparte lauded at St. Helena, October 13. 

IMarsbal Ney shot for High Treason, December 7. 

1816 Jesuits expelled from Petersburgh and Moscow, January 2. 

St. Johns, Newfounuland, destroyed by fire, February 18. 

Prinress Charlotte of Wales married to Prince Leopold, May 2. 

Lord Cochrane tried for breaking out of Prison, August 17. 

He is relepsed by a penny subscription, December 7. 

ludiiiua admitted into the Union as a State, December. 

1817 United States Bank opened fiir business at Philadelphia, January 1. 

American Colonization Society for free Blacks organized, January 1 

James Monroe President of the United Stati .i, March 4. 

Perii-'uibuco declared itself Independent, April 5. 

— — Poiiuguese authority established at Pernambuco, May 18. 
' • Dey of Algiers aseaseinated, September. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 497 

AD. 

1817 Death of Princess Caroline, November 6. 

Mississippi admitted into the Union as a State, December 11. 

1S16 Queen of England dies. 

Charles XIII. of Sweden dies, and is succeeded by Prince Bernadotle. 

France evacuated by the Allies, October. 

Illinois admitted into tlie Union as a State, December 4. 

Commercial Treaties concluded between the United States on one 

part and Great Britain and Sweden on the other. 

Alle;shany College established. 

1819 A Treaty for the cession of Florida to the United States signed at 

Washnigton, February 23. 

First Steam Ship sails for Europe, May. 

• Commodore Perry dies in the vV'est Indies, August 23. 

Alabama admitted into the Union as a State, December. 

1820 George III., King of England, dies January 29. 

C3ftOrfl0 IV. succeeds to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland. 

The Duko of Berry assassinated, February 14. 

Maine admitted into the Union as a State. 

Queen Caroline of England prosecuted fjr Adultery. 

Another Revolution, which gives a Free Constitution to the Spanisli 

nation. 

Population of the United States, 9,625,734. 

1821 Missouri admitted into the Union as a State. 

An attempt to destroy the Royal Family of France, January 27. 

British Government issue a Manifesto respecting the Holy Alliance, 

February. 

Napoleon Bonaparte dies at St. Helena, May H, 1821, aged 53. 

Queen Caroline of England dies, August 7, 1821. 

Elias Boudinot, Presidcuit of the American Bible Society, dies. 

1822 William Pinrkney dies. February 20. 

Iturbide declared himself Emperor of Mexico. 

Columbian College established. 

Massacre of (jireeks at Scio. 

Revolution in Portugal with a Cortes and Free Constitution. 

Don Pedro, son of the King of Portugal, declared Emperor of Brazils. 

1823 Iturbide dethroned and banished to Italy. 

France declares War against Spain, and invades it with a large army. 

Counter Revolution in Portugal. 

Treaty of Peace between Spain and Buenos Ayree, July 4. 

Tt2 63 



COMPARATIVE VIEW 



ANCIENT 



AWD OF 



MODERN GEOGRAPHY. 



In the following Tables the Countries unknown to Ancients, or of which 
the Names are uncertain, are left blank. 

The same numbers in the two adjacent columns on each page indicate the 
ancient and modem names of the same countries or places. 



MODERN EUROPE. 

GREENLAND, or the Arctic Conti- 
nent. 

.SPITSBERGEN (Island.) 

ICELAND, (Island,) belonging to 
Norway. 

NORWAY. 

1. Wardhuis, or Norwegian Lap- 

hind. 

2. Drontlioim. 

3. Borpen. 

4. Ajigerhui.", or Christiana. 

SWEDEN. 

1. Lapland and West Bothnia. 

2. Sweden Proper. 

3. Gothland. 

4. Finland. 

5. Islands of Gothland — Oeland, 

Aland. Ru^en. 

DENMARK. 
Jutland. 
1. Alburp. 
a. Wyburg. 



ANCIENT EUROPE. 



SCANDINAVIA, SCANDIA, vel 
BALTIA. 

2. Nerigon. 

3. Sitones. 



1. Scritofinni. 

2. Suiones. 

3. Gutfe et Hillevionee. 

4. Finningin. 

5. Insulae Sinus Cedani. 



Chefsonesus Cimbrica. 
1. Cimbri. 



500 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF 

MODERN EUROPE. ANCIENT EUROPE. 



3. Aarhusen. 


3. 


Harudes. 




4. Rypen. 


4. 


Phundusii, Sigulones. 


5. Sleswick. 


5. 


Sabalingii. 


Islands in the Baltic. 




Insula Sinus Codani. 


1. Zealand. 


1, 


2. Teutones. 


2. Funen. 






3. Falster. 






4. Longeland. 






5. Laland. 






6. Feneren. 






7. Alsen. 






8. Moen. 






9. Bornholm. 






RUSSIA IN EUROPE. 




SARMATIA EUROP^A. 


1. Livonia and Estonia. 


1. 


Hirri et .^stii vel Ostiones. 


2. Insria, or the Government of 




Petersburg. 






3. Carelia, or the Government of 




Wiburg. 






4. Novogrod. 


4. 


Budini. 


5. Archangel, Samoiedia. 






6. Moscow. 


6. 


Basilici. 


7. Nishnei Novogrod. 






8. Sniolenski. 


8. 


Cariones. 


9. Kievv. 






10. Bielgorod. 


10 &4. Budini. 


11. Woronesk. 


11. 


Roxolani. 


12. Azoff. 


12. 


lazyges. 


FRANCE. 




GALLIA. 


1. Picardy. 


1. 


Ambiani. 


2. Isle of France. 


2. 


Bellovaci, Parisii, Suessones. 


3. Champagne. 


3. 


Remi, Catalauni, Tricasses, 13 
Lingones. 


4. Normandy. 


4. 


Unelli vel Veneti, Saii, Lex-" 
ovii, Veliocasses. 




5. Bretany. 


5. 


Osismii, Veneti, Namnetes, 


B 






Andes, Redones. 




G. Orleannois. 


G. 


Aureliani, Carnutes, Seno- 
nes, Turones, Pictones, 
Bituriges. 


6 


7. Lionnois. 


7. 


iEdui, Segusiani. 


8. Provence. 


8. 


Salyes, Cavares. 


9. Languedoc. 


9. 


VolcfB, Arecomici, Helvii, To- 

losates. 


10. Guienne. 


10. 


Petrocorii, Bituriges, Cadurei, 
Ruteni. 


11. Gascoigne. 


11. 


Aquitani. 


12. Dauphine. 


12. 


Allobroges, Centrones. 


13. Burgundy and Fi"anclie-conite. 


13. 


Lingones, ^Edui, Sequani. 


14. Lorraine and Alsace. 


14. 


Lcuci, Mediomatrici, Triboci» 






Nemetes. 





UNITED PROVINCES, OR KING- 
DOM OF HOLLAND. 

1. Holland. 

2. Friesland. 

3. Zealand. " 

4. Groningen. 

5. Overyssel. 



SAXONES. 



1, 2. Frisii. 



4. Cauci vel Clwuci. 

5. Franci. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN GEOGRAPHY. SOI 

MODERN EUROPE. ANCIENT EUROPE. 



6. Guelderland and Zutphen. 

7. Utrecht. 

NETHERLANDS, 

BELONGING TO FRANCE AND HOLLAND. 

1. Brabant. 

2. Antwerp. 

3. Mechlen or Malines. 

4. Limburgh. 

5. Luxemburgh. 

6. Namur. 

7. Hainault. 

8. Cambresis. 

9. AFtois. 
10. Flanders. 

GERMANY. 

1. Upper Saxony. 

2. Lower Saxony. 

3. Westphalia. 

4. Upper Rhine. 

5. Lower Rhine. 

6. Franeonia. 

7. Austria. 

8. Bavaria. 

9. Suabia. 

BOHEMIA. 

1. Bohemia Proper. 

2. Silesia. 

3. Moravia. 

POLAND. 
1. Greater Poland. 
9. Less Pohind. 

3. Prussia Royal. 

4. Prussia Ducal, 

5. Samogitia. 

6. Courland. 

7. Lithuania. 

8. Warsovia. 

9. Polachia. 

10. Polesia. 

11. Red Russia. 

12. Podolia. 

13. Volhinia. 



SPAIN. 



1. Gallicia. 

2. Asturia. 

3. Biscay. 

4. Navarre. 

5. Arragon. 

6. Catalonia. 

7. Valcntia. 

8. Murcia. 

9. Granada. 
10. Andalusia. 



6. Bructeri, Catti, Sicambri. 

7. Batavi. 



BELG^, &c. 

1. Menapii, Tungrii. 

2. Toxandri. 

4, 5. Alemanni. 

6. Treveri. 

7. Remi. 

9. Atrebates, Veromandui. 
10. Belgse, Mcrini. 

NATIONES GERMANICiE. 

1. Seuvij Lingre, «S:c. 

2. Saxonea, Longobardi, Gam- 

brivii. 

3. Cherusci, Chamavi, Gauchi, \ o 

Germania Inferior. "^ 

4. Germania Superior. 

5. Marci, Tincteri. 

6. Marcomanni, Herraonduri. 

7. Noricum. 

8. Rhsetia. 

9l Vindelicia. 

1. Boiohcemum. 

2. Coreonti. 

3. Quadi. 

GERMANO-SARMATiE. 

1. Peucini. 

2. Lugii. 

3. 4. Burgundiones, Rugii, G«- 

thones. 

5. Ombroges. 

6. Scyri. 

7. 8. Germano-Sarmatia. 



11, 12, 13. Bastarnw. 



HISPANIA, vel IBERIA. 
1, 2, 3. Gallascia — Cantabri, As- 
tures, Varduli. 



4, .5, 6. Tarraconensis 
Valetani. 



7, 8. Carthaginensis iEditani, 

Contestani. 
9, 10. Bsetica — Bastiani, Bastuh. 

Turdetani, &•:. 



SOS COMPARATIVE VIEW OF 

MODERN EUROPE. ANCIENT EUROPE. 



11. Old Castile. 

12. IVew Castile. 

13. Leon. 

14. Estrcmadura, 

SPANISH ISLANDS. 

Ivica. 

Majorca. 

Minorca. 

PORTUGAL. 

Entre Minlio e Douro. 

Tralos Montes. 

Beira. 

Estremadura. 

Entre Tajo. 

Alentajo. 

Algarva. 

^ SWITZERLAND. 

1. Bern. 

2. Friburg. 

a. Basil or Bale 

4. Liiccrn. 

5. Soloturn. 

6. ScliafFhausen. 

7. Zurick. 

8. Appenzel. 

9. Ziig. 

10. Schweitz. 

11. Claris. 

12. Uri. 

13. Underwald. 



11. Gallsecias pars — Accaei, Arevaci. 

12. Tarraconensis pars — Carpetani, 

Oretani. 

13. Gallseciae pars — Vettones. 

14. Lusitaniae pfirs — BaEturia. 

INSULA HISPANIC^. 
Baleares. 



LUSITANIA. 

Calliaei, Lusitani, Celtici. 



HELVETIA. 

1, 2, 3, 4. Ambrones. 



C, 7, 8, 9, 10. Tigurini. 



14. 


Geneva. 


14. 


Nantuates. 




15. 


Grisons, &c. 


15. 


Veragri, Vallis Pennina, La- 
pontii. 




ITALY. 




ITALIA. 


1. 


Savoy. 


" 1. 


Lepontii, Segusini, Tau-" 




2. 


Piedmont. 


2. 


run. 
Orobi. \ 


> 


3. 


Monllerrat. 


3. 


Insubres. [ ^'S""^' 




4. 


Milan. 


4. 


0-2 


F>. 


Genoa. 


5. 


) 


2 


6. 


Parma. 


6. 


Ananiani. 


7. 


Modena. 


7. 


Boii. 


8. 


Mantua. 


8. 


Cenomani. 


s 


9. 


Venice. 


9. 


Venetia. 




10. 


Trent. 


10. 


Tridentini. 




11, 


The Popedom. 


11. 


Lingones, Senones, Plenum, Um- 
bria, Sabini, Pars Latii. 


12. 


Tuscany. 


12. 


Tuscia vel Etruria. 


13. 


Lucca. 


13. 


Pars Tusciae. 


14. 


San Marino. 


14. 


Pars Umbrise. 


15. 


Kingdom of Naples. 


15. 


Samnium, Pars Latii, Apulia, 
Campania,, Lucania, Bruttium. 




ITALIAN ISLANDS. 




INSULA ITALICS. 


1. 


Sicily. 


1. 


Sicilia, Sicania, vel Trinacria. 


2. 


Sardinia. 


2. 


Sardo, vel Sardinia. 


3. 


Corsica. 


3. 


Cyrnus, vel Corsica. 


4. 


Malta. 


4. 


Melita. 





ANCIENT AND MODERN GEOGRAPHY. 503 

MODERN EUROPE. ANCIENT EUROPE. 



5. Lipari Islands. 


5. 


Liparia; Insulte. 


(i. Capri, Iscliia, &c. 


6. CapreaB, Ischia, &c. 


HUNGARY. 




TJIAN8YI.VANIA. 


DACIA. 


SCLAVONIA. 


PANNONIA. 


CROATIA. 


ILLYRICUM. 


TURKEY IN EUROPE. 




]. Dalmatia. , 


1. Dalmatia. 


2. Bosnia. 


2. Moesia Superior. 


y. Servia. 


3. Dacia Ripensis. 


4. Waliacliia. 


4. Getse. 


5. Moldavia and Bessarabia. 


5. Pars Daci?B. 


6. Bulgaria. 


6. Ma^sia Inferior. 


7. Albania. 




7. Epirus. 


8. 3facedonia. 




8. Macedonia. 


9. Romania. 




9. Thiaeia. 


10. Livadia. 


'S 


10. Thesrf.ilia. 


11. Morea. 


i' 


11.- Peloponnesus. 


12. Budziac Tartary or Bessarabia. 


o 


12. Scytiiia et pars Dacite. 


13. Little Tartary. 




J 3. Parva Scythia. 


14. Crimea. 




14. Taurica Chersonesus. 


GREEK ISLANDS. 


INSULiE MARIS lONII. 


1. Corfu. 


1. Corcyra. 


2. Cepiialonia. 


2. Cephalenia. 


3. Zante. 


3. Zacynthus. 


4. Itluice, Thiace, &c. 


4. Ithaca, &c. 


GREEK IfeLANDS IN THE 




ARCHIPELAGO. 


INSULA MARIS iEGiEI 


1. Candia. 


1. Creta. 


2. NegTopont. 


2. EubcEa 


3. Staliniene. 


3. Lemnos. 


4. Scyro, &c. 


4. 


Scyros, &c. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 





SCOTLAND 


1. 


Edinburgh. 


2. 


Haddington. 


3. 


Berwick. 


4. 


Roxburgh. 


5. 


Selkirk. 


6. 


Dumfries. 


7. 


Kircudbright. 


8. 


Peebles. 


9. 


Wigton. 


10. 


Lanerk. 


11. 


Air. 


12. 


Duaibarton. 


13. 


bute. 


14. 


Renfrew. 


15. 


Stirling. 


16. 


Linlithgow. 


17. 


Fife. 


13. 


Clackmannan. 


19. 


Kinross. 


20. 


Perth. 


21. 


Argyle. 



Vecturiones. 



SCOTIA. 

[ Damnii. 
)ttodini. 

> Selgovee. 



Novantes. 



Damnii. > Picti. 



Caledonii. 



> Picti. 



21. Epidii, Gadeni, Cerones. 



604 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF 

MODERN EUROPE. ANCIENT EUROPE. 



92. Kincardine. 

23. Forfar. 

24. Aberdeen. 

25. Bantt'. 
2(i. Elgin. 

27. Nairn. 

28. Inverness. 

29. Ross. 

30. Cromarty. 

31. Southerland. 

32. Caithness. 

33. Orkney. 

34. Slietlanil. 

ENGLAND. 

1. Cornwall. 

2. Davonshire. 

3. Dorsetsliire. 

4. Hampshire. 

5. Somersetshire. 

6. Wiltshire. 

7. Berkshire. 

8. Oxfordshire. 

9. Gloucestershire. 

10. Monmouthshire. 

11. Herefordshire. 

12. Worcestershire. 

13. Staffordshire. 

14. Shropshire. 
1.5. Essex. 

16. Hartfordshire. 

17. Kent. 

18. Surry. 

19. Sussex. 

20. Norfolk. 

21. Suffolk. 

22. Cambridgeshire. 

23. Huntingdonshire. 

24. Bedfordshire. 

25. Buckinghamshire. 

26. Lincolnshire. 

27. Nottinghamshire. 

28. Derbyshire. 

29. Rutlandshire. 
39. Leicestershire. 

31. Warwickshire. 

32. Northamptonshire. 

33. Northumberland. 

34. Durham. 

35. Yorkshire. 

36. Lancashire. 

37. Westmoreland. 
3S. Ciunbcrland. 
39. Cheshire. 

4U. Middlesex. 



22. Vernicones. ■ 

23. Horestae. 

24. ) V Attacoti. 

25. VTsezali. , 

26. > J 

27 ) 

^^- SVacomagi. 

29". j ") 

30. > Cantae. 

31. ) 

32. MertcB. 

33. Orcades. 

34. Thule. 



Scoti. 



1 

2 

3. Durotr 

4 



ANGLIA. 

D^mnonii. 



U 



Attrebatii. 
Dobuni. 



JJ- ^Silures. 



Cornavii. 



12. 

13. 
14. 

15. Trinobantes. 

16. Catiouchlaui. 

17. Cantii. 



18. 

19. 



Rej'm. 



~^' \ Simeni, vel Iceni. 

22'. ) 

23. > Catieuchlani. 

24. S 

25. Attrebatii. 

26. -V 

27. / 

28. > Corilani. 

29. i 

30. J 

31. Cornavi. 

33. Catieuchlani. 



33. 
34. 

35. 
36. 
37. 
38 

39. Cornavii. 

40. Attrebates et Catieuchlani. 



Otadeni. 



Brigantes. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN GEOGRAPHY. 505 

MODERN EUROPE. ANCIENT EUROPE. 



WALES. 



1. Anglesey. 

2. Flintshire. 

3. Montgomery. 

4. Denbighshire. 

5. Carnarvonsliire. 

6. Merioneth. 

7. Cardiganshire. 

8. Carmarthenshire. 

9. Pembrokeshire. 

10. Radnorshire. 

11. Brecknockshire. 

12. Glamorganshire. 



IRELAND. 

1. Loulh. 

2. Meath East. 

3. Meath West. 

4. Longford. 

5. Dublin. 

6. Kildare. 

7. King's County, 

8. Queen's County. 

9. Wicklovv. 
10. Carlow. 
n. Wexford. 

12. Kilkenny. 

13. Donnegal or Tyrconnel. 

14. Londonderry. 

15. Antrim. 
IG. Tyrone. 

17. Fermanagh. 

18. Armagh. 

19. Down. 

20. Monaghan, 

21. Cavan. 

r22. Cork County. 

23. Waterford. 

24. Tipperary. 

25. Limerick. 

26. Kerry. 

27. Clare. 



_2 r28. Galway. 
w> 29. Roscommon. 
I <J 30. Mayo. 



1 31. Sligoe. 
[32. ' 



Leitrim. 



BRITANNIC ISLANDS. 

1. Shetland and Orkney. 

2. Western Isles of Scotland. 
8. Man. 

4. Anglesey. 

5. Wight. 

Uu 



1. Mona Insula. 

2. ^ 

3. / 

4. > Ordovices. 



■ Demetae. 
Silures. 

HIBERNIA, vel IRENE. 

Voluntii. 

> Cauci. 
Auteri. 

> Blanii. 

S Corondi. 
Blanii. 

> Manapii. 
Coriondi. 



1 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
1.5. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 




22. Vodiffi, Iverni. 

23 ) 

«V S Brigantes. 



Velabori. 



24. K 
25. 
26. 
27. 

Gangani. 

28. ■ 

29. Auteri 

30. 1 

31. VNagnatae. 

INSULyE BRITANNICiE. 

1. Thule. 

2. Ebudes Insulne. 

3. Monaeda vel Mona. 

4. Mona. 

5. Vectis. 

64 



506 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF 

MODERN ASIA. ANCIENT ASIA. 



TURKEY IN ASIA. 




ASIA MINOR. 


1. Natolia. 


1. 


Mysia, Lydia, Caria, Phrygia, 
Bithynia, Galatia, Paphlago- 


2. Amasia or Siwas. 


2. 


Pontus. 


3. Aladulia. 


3. 


Armenia. 


4. Caramania. 


4. 


Cappadocia, Cilicia, &c. 


5. Irak. 


5. 


Babylonia, Chaldea. 


6. Diarbeck. 


6. 


Mesopotamia. 


7. Curdistan. 


7. 


Assyria. 


8. Turcomania. 

9. Georgia. 


8. 
9. 


> Armenia Major. 


10. Syria and Palestine. 


10. 


Syria, Palmyrene, Phoenicia, Ju- 
deea. 

ARABIA. 


ARABIA. 




Arabia Petrsea. 


Arabia Petrsea. 


Arabia Deserta. 


A 


abia Deserta. 


Arabia Felix. 


Arabia Felix. 


PERSIA. 




PERSIA. 


1. Chorassan. 


1. 


Pars Hyrcanise et Sogdianas. 


2. Balk, Sablustan, Candahar. 


2. 


Bactrania. 


3. Sigisian. 


3. 


Drangiana. 


4. Makeran. 


4. 




5. Kernian. 


• 5. 


Gedrosia. 


6. Farsistan. 


6. 


Persis. 


7. Chuseatan. 


7. 


Susiana. 


8. Irak Agem. ' 


8. 


Parthia. 


9. Curdesian. 


9. 


Pars Assyriae. 


10. Aderbeitzen. 


10. 


Media. 


11. Georgia. 


11. 


> 


12. Gangea. 


12. 


> Iberia, Colchis, et Albania. 


13. Dagestan. 


13. 


S 


14. Mazanderara. 






15. Gilan Taberistan. 


15. 


Pars Hyrcaniae. 


16. Cliirvan. 


16. 


Pars Albanise. 


INDIA. 




INDIA. 


Mogol. 




India intra Gang em. 


Delhi. 


Palibothra. 


Agra. 


Agora. 


Cambaia. 


Regna Pori et Taxilis. 


Bengal. 






India within the Ganges. 






Decan. 


Dachanos. 


Jolconda. 


Pra 


isii vcl Gangaridee. 


Bisnagar. 






Malabar. 


Male. 


Island of Ceylon. 


Taprobana Insula vel Salice. 


India beyond the Ganges. 




India extra Gang em. 


Pegu. 






Tonquin. 






Cochinchina. 






Siam. 


Sinarum Regiq, 




CHINA 




Niuche. 






Corea. 


, 





ANCIENT AND MODERN GEOGRAPHY. 507 

MODERN ASIA. ANCIENT ASIA. 



Laotong. 

Pekin. 

Xansi. 

Xensi. 

Xantum. 

Nanking. 

Chekiam. 

Honan. 

Huquam. 

Kiamsi. 

Fokien. , 

Canton. 

Suchuen. 

Quecheu. 

Yunam. 

Formosa. 
Ainan. 
Macao. 
Bashee Islands. 



Sinse. 

Seriea. 

Cathaea. 



CHINESE ISLANDS. 



RUSSIA IN ASIA. 



1. Astracan. 

2. Orenburg, 

3. Casan. 

4. Siberia — Tobolsk, Jeniseia, Ir- 

kutsk, Kamschatka. 



1. Sarmatia Asiatica. 

2. ^ 

3 r 

/ > Scythia intra Imaum. 



INDEPENDENT TARTARY. 



1. Great Bucharia. 

2. Karasm. 

ALUTH TARTARS. 

1. Little Bucharia. 

2. Casgar. 

3. Turkestan. 

4. Kalmac Tartars. 

5. Thibet. 

6. Little Thibet. 

CHINESE TARTARY. 

Kalkas. 
Mongol Tartars. 

Mantchou Tartars. 
Corea. 

ISLANDS OF CHINESE TAR- 
TARY. 

Sagalien-Ula-hata. 
Jedso. 

ISLANDS OF JAPAN. 

Japan or Niphon. 

Xicoco. 

Ximo. 

PHILIPPINE ISLES. 

Lucon or Manilla. 
Mindanao, &c. 

MARIAN OR LADRONE. 
ISLANDS. 

Tinlan. 



1. Bactriana, Sogdiana 

2. Aria. 



SCYTHIA extra IMAUM. 



SINiE. 



J 



sot COMPARATIVE VIEW OF 

MODERN ASIA. ANCIENT ASIA. 

ISLES OF SUNDA. 

Borneo. 
Sumatra. 
Java, &c. 

MOLUCCA ISLES. 

Celebes. 
Amboyna. 
Ceram. 
Timor. 
Florcs, &c. 

jmaldiva isles. 



MODERN AFRICA. 

BARBARY. 
1. Morocco. 
2.- Algiers. 

3. Tunis. 

4. Tripoli. 

5. Barca. 



Egypt. 

BiLDCLOERID. 

Zaara, or tiio Doeert. 

Negroland. 

Guinea. 

Upper Ethiopia- 



Nubia, Abyssinia, Abex. 

Lower Ethiopia 

Lower Gimnea- 



Loango, Congo, Angola, Ben- 

guela, Matanan. 
Aja.v. 
Zangcebar. 

Mo.NOMOTAPA. 
MoNOEMUGl. 

Sofola. 

Terra de Natai.. 
Cafraria, or country of the 
Hottentots. 



ANCIENT AFRICA. 



b Mauritania Tingitana. 

2. Mauritania Caesariensis. 

3. Numidia, Africa Propria. 

4. Tripuliiana. 

5. Cyrenaica, Libya Superior. 

1. yEcvPTi's. 

2. Libya I^iferiob, Cstclu. 

3. SoLITUDINES. 

4. At'TOLOLKS. 

C. iflxBiopif et Libtje pan. 
7. JETUiori^ pari. 



NORTH AMERICA. 
BRITISH AMERICA. 

1. The countries on the east and west side of Baffins and Hudson's Bayi. 

2. Labrador, or New Britain. 

3. Canada. 

4. Nova Scotia. 



Islands. 
Newfoundland, Cape Breton. 

British Islundt in the West Indies. 

Bermudas, Bahama Islands, Jamaica, St. Christopher's, Nevis, Montaerrat, 
Antigua, Dominica, St. Vincent,'Tobago, Grenada, Barbadoes, &c. &c. 



ANCIENT AND .MODERN GEOGR-\PHY. 50& 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

New England — Maine, New-Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connect- 
icut, and Rhode-Island. 

State of New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, 
Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Illinois. 

The district of Columbia, the territories of Michigan, Arkansas. 

SPANISH AMERICA. 

Mexico or New Spain, New Mexico. 

NORTH AMERICA. 

Spanish Islands in tho West Indies. 

Cuba, Porto Rico, west part of St. Domingo, Trinidad, Margarita, Cuba- 
gua, &c. 

Dutch Islands in the West Indies. 

Part of St. Martin's Isle, Eustatius, Aves, Buenos Ayres, Curacoa, Aruba. 

French Islands in the West Indies. 
Miquelon, St. Pierre, part of St. Martin's Isle, St. Bartholomew, Martinico, 
Guadaloupe, D«siaaa, Mariegalant, St. Lucia, part of St. Domingo. 

Danish Islands in the West Indies. 
St. Thomas, Santa Cruz. 

SOUTH AMERICA. 

FRENCH 
Part of the Province of Guiana, Cayenne, &c. 

SPANISH. 

Terra Firma, Country of the Amazons, Peru, Chili, Terra Ma^ellanica, 
Paraguay, Tucuman. 

DUTCH. 

Part of Guiana, Surinam, Sec. 

PORTUGUESE. 

Brazil, and many Islands on the coast, port of Guiana. 



ANCIENT EMPIRES. 



The Empire of Assyria, under Niniis and Semiramis, about 9200 before 
J. C, comprehended, Asia Minor, Colchis, Assyria, Media Chaldea, 
Egypt. 

U U2 



510 COMPARATIVE VIEW OP 

The Empire of Assyria, as divided about 820 before J. C, formed three 
Kingdoms, Media, Babylo-Chaidea, (Syria and Chaldea,) Lydia, (all 
Asia Minor.) 

Th? Empire of the Persians, under Darius Hystaspes, r,22 before J. C, 
comprehended, Persis, Su'^'ana, Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Bactriana, 
Armenia, Asia, Parthia, Iberia, Albania, Colchis, Asia Minor, Egypt, 
part of Ethiopia, part of Scytiiia. 

The Empire of Alexander the great, 330 before J. C, consisted of, 
1, all Macedonia and Greece, except Peloponnesus ; 2, all tlio Persian 
Empire, as above df scribed ; 3, India to tlie banks of the Indus on the 
east, and the laxartes or Tanais on the north. 

The Empire of At.exander was thus divided, 306 before J. C, between 
Ptolemy, Cassander, Lysimachus, and Seleucus 

Empire of Ptolemy. 

Lybia, Arabia, Ccclosyria, Palestine. 

Empire of Cassander. 



Macedonia, Greece. 
Thrace, Bithynia. 



Empire of Lysimachus. 



Empire of Seleucus. 

Syria, and all the rest of Alexander's Empire. 

The Empire of the Parthians, 140 before J. C, comprehended Parthia, 
Hyrcania, Media, Persis, Bactriana, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, India to 
the Indus. 

The Roman Empire, under the Kings, was confined to the city of Rome, 
and a. ftw miles round it. 

The RoM.^^ Empir**, at the end of the Republic, comprehended all Italy, 
great part of Gaal, part of Britain, Africa Proper, great part of Spain, 
iiiyria, Istria, Liburnia, Daiinatia. Achaia, Macedonia, Dardania, Moesia, 
Thracia, Pontus, Armenia, Judcea, Cilicia, Syria, Egypt. 

Under the Eniperors the following countries were reduced into Roman 
Provinces. 

All 3pa'm, the Alpcs Maritimap, Piedmont, Ar. Rhaetia, Norirum, Panno- 
nia, and Mccsia, Pontus, Armenia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt. 

Constantius Chlorus and Galerius divided the Empire into Eastern and 
Western; and under Constantirie each Empire had a distinct capital or 
seat of government. 

The extent of each division was fluctuating from time to time ; but, in gen- 
eral, the Western Empire comprehended Italy, Illyria, Africa, Spain, 
the Gauls, Britain. 

The Eastern Empire comprehended Asia Minor, Pontus, Armenia, Assyria, 
Media, &c. Egypt, Thrace, l>acia, 3Iacedonia. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN GEOGRAPHY. 



511 



The Empike of Charlemagne, A. D. 800, comprehended France, Marca, 
Hispanica, (or Navarre and Catalonia,) Majorca, Minorca, and Ivica, 
Corsica, Italy as far south as Naples, Istria, Liburnia, Dalmatia Rhaetia, 
Vindelica, Noricum, Germaiij , from the Rhine to the Oder, and to the 
banks of the Baltic. 

France contained, 1, Neustria, comprehending Bretany, Normandy, Isle of 
France, Oiieannois ; 2, Austria, comprehending Picardy, and Cham- 
pagne ; 3, Aquitania, comprehending Guienne, and Ga.scony ; 4, Burgun- 
dia, comprehending Burgundy, Lionnuis, Languedoc, Dauphine, Provence. 



NAMES OF THE PRINCIPAL RIVERS IN EUROPE. 



ANCIENT. 

1. Rha. 

2. Tanais. 

3. Bor^ stones. 

4. Tyras. 

5. Danubius or Ister. 

6. Padus. 

7. Rhodanus. 

8. Iberus. 
D. Boetis. 

10. Anas. ' 

11. Tagus. 

12. During. 

13. Garumna. 

14. Liger. 

15. Sequana. 
1(). Samara. 

17. Scaldis. 

18. Mosa. 
1!>. Rhenus. 

20. Visnrgis. 

21. All.is. 

22. Viadrus. 



MODERN. 

1. Wolga. 

2. Don. 

3. Nieper. 

4. Niester, 

5. Danube. 

6. Po. 

7. Rhone. 

8. Ebro. 

9. Guadalquiver. 

10. Guadiana. 

11. Tayo. 

12. Douro. 

13. Garonne. 

14. Loire. 

15. Seine. 

16. Somme. 

17. Scheldt. 

18. Maese. 

19. Rhine. 

20. Weser. 

21. Elbe. 

22. Oder. 



The Vistula, the Dwina at Riga, and the Dwina at Archangel. 



END. 



QUESTIONS 

FOB THE 

EXAMINATION OF SCHOLARS 



TYTLER'S ELEMENTS 



OF 



(SSS?S2ai,& !a:2£'S'(S:S?i 



BY AN EXPERIENCED TEACHER. 



COKCORD, A". H. 
PRINTED BY ISAAC HILL. 

1825. 



DISTRICT OF NLW-HAMPSIIIRE, to tcit . 

District Clerk's office. 

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on tlir fourth day of Soptpmbcr. A. D. 
],e23, and in the lorty-iij;litli )far of tlio Intlipcndonrc of the rniled 
Status of America, ISAAC HILL, of tli»^ suid niftrirt, hnth di-poHitod in 
this oirue the title of a book, the right whereof ho claiins an proprietor, in 
the words following, to wit : — 

'• L!( iiicnts of tiencral History, ancient and modern. By Aicxftndcr 
Eraser Tvtier, F. R. S. E. Protlssor of Hi!«tory in tin- liiiv«-n«ify «)f Edin- 
burgh. VVitli a continuation, tirminatinj( at tin- deinitii- of Kin;; (itoree III., 
I,>i2(). By Rev. Eilward Kiin-s, D. D. Trofessor of Modern Hi.«ii>rv in tho 
I'liivors-ity of Oxford. To \vlii«;li are added, n succinct lli-^tcry of tfio Unit- 
ed States; an improved Table of Clironohigy ; a compnrulivu view of 
Ancient and Modern Geography ; nnd Cin»>-ii'>ns on • ' 'i. Adapted 

furtlie UPC of Srhor)l>i and Academies. By an i \| ■ .< her." 

In conlormity to the act of the Conpresis of the I , ■^. • niiiled, 

" An ad fiir tho enrourasemeut of lenrninp, l)y sei urin>: the n ' ,.», 

ehart.s, and book.*, to the authors and propri<'»or«> rf vnch i '■>ff 

the times therein mentioned ;'■ and also im .- i. '• An ui i .-upplc- 

nuntary to an act, entitled an act for the .. nt of Icarniiic. by 

securing the copies of maps, ehart>». and bo..K,-. i . i .^ ■ •! ' -ro- 

prietor.-* of such copies during the tinu s th<ri :n ..icntii'i ng 

the benefiLs thereof to the arts of designing', cngra\ing, ani. ^ ol 

and other prints." 

\V1LLIAAI CLAGGETT, Clrrk 

of the District of J\'cw- Hampshire. 
A true copy of Record. 

Attest \VILLL\iM CLAGGETT, Clerk. 



QUESTIONS. 

PART FIRST. 

SECTION I. 

1. \Vn AT books &flbrd the earliest authentic history of the a^s immc' 
(lialcly foUowinjf the deluge ? 
When WPft Habylou aiid Niueveh built.* 
J. Ity whom were lh«'y built ? 

4. Whr, are said Irt have raised Assyria to a hii^h degree of splendour? 

5. ^^ ' ■ " • •• i of tht early parts of Kjyptiau history ? 

srmoN II 

ft. Whrvt i« t'. 

6. Ol whit a. lies? 

10. ^Vh:li was Uit lank oi ii»« king- ur ? 

11. \i,h:it wa« thf chamctir of ihi- iws in human society? 
H. Whit u . ri th> larlit «t laws r.>i bcn<fit of society ? 

13. VN h.il 'iii:;iil.ir tiia^ts prevail' i it- ancient nations relating 

t 

14. '. i in order to those of marriage ' 
J5. ^■ ihods of authenticating; c.iUracts ? 

16. What nation used hieroglyphics, and for what purpose were they 

»1M d » 

17. Wh: r recordinjf: historical facts, and publishing 
th. 

"V' iliat have existed ^ 

I' d? 

Iiemf 

.v.. ..ltd? 

SECTION III. 

113. To what nation is moti of the knowledge of ancient nations to be 
traced f 
How did fbat ktuiwi .d to modem nations? 

Whnf I r-rmnitJoM <\ . >unlry afford of the antiquity of the 

I 1 ompire ? 

.''. i r<- th>' innndntinn* of the river Nile owing ? 

.llaw*? 

lUiieral rites in Ei^ypt ? 
,' the borroniii^ <>! money? 
I what useful arts and sciencci 

'. tire still remain ? 
Wli»u v.M»- llii- pyiaiUitl^ built? 
Kor what were iht y probably built ? 



4 QUESTIONS. 

35. What was the national character of the Egyptians? 

36. What circumstances served to debase them in the opinion of contem- 

porary nations ? 

SECTION IV. 

37. By what name were the Phoenicians known in Scripture ? 

38. For what are we indebted to them ? 

39. What is said of them in the time of Abraham ? 

40. What is the antiquity of their writings ? 

SECTION V. 

41. To what early nations were the Grecians indebted for their first rudi- 

ments of civilization ? 

42. Who were the ancient inhabitants of Greece ? 

43. What colony settled in the country about the time of Moses ? 

44. Who settled Attica and at what time? 

45. Who established the court oi Areopagus.' 

46. Who established the Auiphictyor.ic Council ? 

47. Who introduced into Greece, and at what time, alphabetic writing ? 

48. How many letters did the alphabet then contain ? 

49. What was then the mode of writing ? 

SECTION VI. 

50. What is said of the Pelasgi, of Ancient Greece f 

51. What was a predominant characteristic of the early Greeks ? 

52. What were the names of their four solemn Games, as they weJe 

termed .' 

53. Of what did they consist .-" 

54. What good political effects did these games have ? 

SECTION VII. 

65. Who instituted the Eleusinian mysteries ? 

66. What was the nature of these mysteries ? 

57. WiiO laid the foundation of the grandeur of Attica? 
68. 'When and how did he do it ? 

59. 'What was the object of the Argonautic expedition? 

60. What was the character of the attack and defence in the sieges of ii 

Thebes and Tioy? 

61. On whose authority rests the detail of the war of Troy ? j 

62. What are the principal facts recorded of that war by Homer ? l 
C3. How were military expeditions then conducted ? , 

SECTION VIII. 

64. When did the Greeks begin to colonize ? 

65. Who XV as elected the first chief magistrate of the Athenian republic? 

66. What caused the Greeks to seek refuge in other couatries by estab- j 

lishing colonies ? 

67. What caused Greece to abolish the regal and establish a republican 

govermnenL ? 

68. What distinguished civilians arose in Sparta and Athens at this time ? . 

SECTION IX. 

69. "VMiat period was Lycurgus invested v/ith the power of reforming and j| 

new-modellinf?' the constitution of his country? 

70. What was *l;e goverumert of Sparta as new-modelled by Lycurgus ? 

71. To what did he particularly bend his attention? 

72. How did he divide the territory ? 



QUESTIONS. S 

73. What regulation did he make concerning the use of money ? 

74. By whom were the necessary arts practised ? 

75. What was the course of Spartan education? 

76. By what was the general excellence of the institutions of Lycurgus 

impaired ? 

77. How were the slaves treated ? 

78. \\ hat was the end of the institutions of Lycurgus ? 

SECTION X. 

79. What was the nature of the change in the Athenian constitution 

when the regal office was abolished ? 

80. What was the tenure by which the Archonship was held ? 

81. Who attempted a reform in the constitution, 624 B. C. ? 

82. When did Solon attain the Archonship ? 

83. What was his character ? 

84. How did he divide the citizens ? 

85. How did he counterbalance the weight of the popular assemblies? 

86. How did the particular laws of Athens compare with her form of 

government ? 

87. What was the nature of the laws relating to debtors and slaves ? 

88. What was the condition of women at this time in Athens ? 

89. What was one of the most iniquitous and absurd peculiarities of the 

Athenian and some of the other Grecian governments ? 

90. How were the arts viewed in Athens ? 

91. Haw did the character of the Athenians compare with that of the 

Spartans ? 

92. To whom were the liberties of Athens surrendered, 550 B. C. ? 

93. Who afterwards restored the democracy ? 

SECTION XI. 

94. Under whom did the first empire of the Assyrians terminate ? 

95. What three monarchies arose from its ruins ? 

96. What king of Assyria, led the Jews into captivity, took Jerusalem 

and Tyre, and subdued Egypt? 

97. Who was the successor of Cambyses in the throne of Persia ? 

98. What countries did Cyrus annex to his empire ? 

99. What was the government of Persia ? 

100. To whose care was the children and youth of Persia committed for 

education ? 

101. What was the nature of the laws in Persia? 

102. What was the religion of Persia? 

103. What was the sacred book of the Persians called ? 

104. On what is the theojogy of the Zendavesta founded ? 

SECTION XII. ' 

105. What king of Persia invaded Greece ? 

106. Where was the Persian army defeated ? 

107. Who commanded the Greeks in the battle of Marathon? 

108. What reward did Miltiades receive for his eminent services from the 

Athenians ? 

109. Who were the successors of Miltiades in the war with the Persians ? 

110. Who succeeded Darius in the command of the Persians? 

111. With what force did Xerxes attempt the conquest of Greece ? 

112. Who was Leonidas ? 

113. With what force did Leonidas contend with the vast army of 

Xerxes ? 

1 14. At what place was it ? 

115. What was the result? 
Xx 



6 QUESTIONS. 

1 16. What was the success of Xerxes with his fleet at sea ? 

117. Where were the Persians totally defeated on land, by the combined 

army of the Athenians and Lacedaemonians ? 

118. What was the end of Xerxes? 

119. What was the national character of the Greeks at this time ?-- 

^ SECTION XIII. 

120. Who governed Athens after the Persian war ? 

121. In what manner did he govern it? 

122. What gave rise to the war during the reign of Pericles between 

Athens and Laceda-mon ? 

123. On what account was Alcibiades condemned to death for treason ? 

124. By whom did the Lacedaemonians reduce the power of the Athe- 

nians ? 

125. What eminent philosopher was then in Athens at this time ? 

126. ^Vhat was particularly disgraceful to the Athenians in regard to 

him ? 

127. ^Vhat is the subject of the history written by Xenophon ? 

SECTION XIV. 

128. On the decline of .Athens and Sparta, what other Grecian Republic 

rose to a high degree of eminence among the contemporary states ? 

129. What led to the war between Thobes and Sparta? 

130. What two distinguished Generals did Thebes employ in conducting 

this war ? 

131. How did this war terminate? 

SECTION XV. 

132. Who at this time attempted to bring the whole of Greece under his 

dominion ? 

133. What caused what was called the Sacrrd War of this period ? 

134. What distinguished Grecian orator exposed the artful designs of 

Philip ? 

135. In what battle was the fate of Greece, so that all her states became 

subject to Philip ? 

136. What great enterprise did he attempt ? 

137. Did he complete it ? 

138. Why not ? 

SECTION XVI. 

139. Who was the successor of Philip? 

140. At what age did Alexander ascend the throne of Macedon ? 

141. How large was his army at this time ? 

142. What was his first enterprise? 

143. Who was king of Persia at this time ? 

144. With what force did Darius meet Alexander? 

145. Where did they meet ? 

146. What was the result of the battle of Granicus ? 

147. What were the respective losses of the Greeks and Persians in the 

battle of Issus ? 

148. What opportunity did Alexander have for th display of generosity 

after the battle of Issus ? 

149. What was the consequence of the battle of Issus ? 

150. W4iat caused Alexander to storm and subject the city of Tyre ? 

151 . What was the fate of its inhabitants ? 

152. What was disgraceful to Alexander in his capture of Gaza? 

153. What opened Egypt to Alexand»r''s victorious arms? 

154. What city did he build in his return from Egypt? 



QUESTIONS. 7 

155. Who met Alexander at Arbela with an army of 700,000 men? 

156. What was the result of the ba^ile at Arbela? 

157. When was Persia conquered by Alexander ? i^'O 

158. What project did he attempt after the conquest of Persia? 

159. What prevented his conquest of India ? 

160. What became of Alexander on finding a limit to his victories ? 

SECTION XVII. 

161. What wish did Alexander express as to a successor? 

162. \Vhat became of his family ? 

163. Which were the most powerful monarchies formed from his vast 

empires ? 

SECTION XVIII. 

164. What distinguished orator of Greece attempted to arouse his coun- 

trymen, to shake off the yoke of Macedon, on the death of Alexan- 
der ? 

165. What empire arose in Europe on the decline of the Macedoniaa 

power ? 

166. How was Greece added to the Roman empire ? 

167. When was the conquest of Greece completed? 

SECTION XIX. 

168. What is said of the nature of the Republican government of Greece ? 

169. What was the condition of the people under them ? 

170. In what periods of the Grecian history are we to look for splendid 

examples of patriotism ? 

171. What is the most remarkable circumstance that strikes us on com- 

paring the latter with the more early periods of the history of the 
Greeks? 

SECTION XX. 

172. Ill what description of the arts did the Grecians excel ? 

173. Which of the Fine Arts did they carry to the greatest degree of per- 

fection ? 

174. In whose reign did the Fine Arts flourish most? 

175. What were their three orders of architecture ? 

176. What other orders of architecture are there ? 

177. What was the state of sculpture in Greece? 

178. How did the paintings and music of the Grecians compare wkh 

those of the moderns ? 

SECTION XXI. 

179. How does poetry compare with prose as to antiquity? 

180. When did Homer flourish? 

181. Who are some of the other principal poets of ancient Greece ? 

182. When waS the origin of dramatic composition among the Greeks ? 

SECTION XXII. 

183. W^hat eminent historians of Greece were contemporaries ? 

184. When did they flourish ? 

185. Who were some of the latter distinguished historians of Greece ? 

186. What is said of Plutarch's Lives of Illustrious Men ? 

SECTION xxni. 

1.87. What was tf'.e most ancient school of philosophy ia Greece ? 



8 QUESTIONS. 

188. Who founded the Italian sect of philosophers in Greece ? 

189. When did Socrates flourish ? 

190. Who founded the Academic sect? 

191. Who founded the Peripatetic sect? 

192. Who are some of the other Greek philosophers? 

193. What is the effect of the Greek philosophy on morality and the prog- 

ress of useful knowledge ? 

SECTION XXIV. 

194. After the conquest of Greece what Power became an object of par- 

ticular importance ? 

195. What was the character of the first inhabitants of Italy ? 

196. Who wtre they ? 

197. What is the opinion of Dionysius concerning the origin of Rome ? 

198. What is the A'ulgar account of the origin of the city built by Rom- 

ulus ? 

199. At what time was it founded ' 

200. ^^ ho were the most forniidaMe enemies of the early Romans ? 

201. Who was the sicond king of Rome ? 

20-2. Who added lOO Plebeians to the Iloman Senate? 
tiO'3. Who removed the poorer citizens from all share in the government of 
Rome ? 

204. What became of Servius Tullius ? 

205. Who succeeded him on the throne ? 

206. VA hat caused the expulsion of Tarquinius ? 

207. What was the first retrenchment in the power of the Roman Sen- 

ate ? 

208. What use did the early Romans make of their victories ? 

209. How long did the regal government of Rome continue ? 

210. How many kings were there ? 

211. What is said ol the wars in which Rome was almost continually en- 

gaged ? 

SECTION XXV. 

212. What government succeeded the regal one in Rome ? 
2.3. Who were the two first consuls ? 

214. What law is mentioned that was made under the direction of Vale- 

rius ? 

215. What gave rise to the office of Dictator ? 

216. V\ hat was the pow r of the Dictator ? 

217. What g;»ve rise to the office of Tribune ; and what were the power* 

of that office ? 

SECTION XXVI. 

218. What effect had the office of Tribune on the powers of the Senate ? 
2J9. Und<-r what circumstances was Valero made Tribune ? 

220. When did the Roman constitution become a complete democracy ? 

SECTION xxvn. 

221. For what purpose were the Decemviri chosen ? 

222. What were the laws called, which they framed ? 

223. At V hat time were they made ? 

224. With what powers were the Decemviri invested ? 

225. Who was at the head of the Decemvirate ? 

226. What caused the abolition of this office ? 

227. How long did it exist ? 



•aUESTIONS. 9 

SECTION XXVIII. 

228. What two barriers separated the patricians and plebeians ^ 

229. What two offices were created, 437 B. C. ? 

230. What successful expedient did the senate adopt for fillin* the Ro- 

man armies ? " 

231. What city was taken by Camillus ? 

232. At what period and after how Ion* a siege ? 

233. To what event do the Roman writers attribute the loss of all the rec- 

ords and monuments of their early history ? 

234. What is there singular in regard to most of the revolutions in 

Rome : 

SECTION XXIX. 

235. How long after the foundation of their city did Rome become mistress 

of all Italy i 

236. What was the policy observed by the Romans with respect to the 

nations they had conquered ? 

237. What gave rise to the Punic wars ? 



SECTION XXX. 

238. By whom and when was Carthage founded .' 

239. How many smaller cities were under the dominion of Carthage at 

the time of the Punic wars .' 

240. What was the form of government ? 

241. To what was the wealth and splendour of Carthage owin* .' 

SECTION XXXI. 

242. Who founded Syracuse .' 

243. What was the government of it ? 

SECTION XXXII. 

244. "Where did the war between Rome and Carthage commence ? 

245. What Roman consul was taken by the Carthaginians in the first 

Punic war ? 

246. What patriotic act did Regulus perform when a prisoner to the 

Carthaginians ? 

247. How did the first Punic war terminate ? 

248. How long ilid the peace between Rome and Carthage continue ? 

249. How did the second Punic war begin ? 

250. Who was the Carthaginian general in this war ? 

251. How did Hannibal conduct this war ? 

252. Where did the Romans meet with complete defeat ? 

253. How many were slain in the battle of Canae ? 

254. What is supposed would have been the consequence had Hannibal 

improved this victory ? 

255. In what way did the Romans compel the Carthaginians to sue for 

peace ? 

256. What Roman general carried war to the gates of Carthage ? 

257. At what time did the second Punic war close ? 

258. When did the third commence .' 

259. What was the issue of this v.ar .' 

260. When was Carthage destroyed ? 

261. What other success attended the Romans this year. > 



SECTION XXXIII. 

^t this time, undertook 



262. What two persons, at this time, undertook to reform the corruptions 
of tlie Romans '■" 



10 QUESTIONS. 

263. What circumstances attending the war of Jngurtha gave decisive 

proof of the corruption of the Roman manntrs ? 

264. \Vhat bf'came of Jugurtha? 

263. Between what two rivals did a civil war now break out in Rome? 

266. What became of Marius ? 

267. To what office M-as Sylla afterwards elected ? 

26!J. \Vhat magnanimous act characterized the latter part of his life? 

269. Betwf , n whom was the civil war revived after the death of Sylla ? 

270. What conspiracy, at this time, threatened the destruction of 

Home ? 

271. By whose provident zeal and patriotism was it extinguished ? 
'212. What (listitiguished individual now rose into notice ? 

273. Under wiiat circumstances was the first Triumvirate formed? 

274. What Roman general invaded and conquered Britain, 54 B. C. 
27.5. Who procured the banishment of Cicero ? 

276. Who effected his recall from exile ? 

277. What dissolved the Triumvirate ? 

SECTION XXXIV. 

27.*?. What proposition was made at this time by Cajsar ? 

279. Did Pompey accede to it ? 

280. Did war ensue between them ? 

2(;i. \\ hat decree did the senate pronounce ? 
202. Where was a decisive battle fought .' 

283. What became of I'ompey ? 

284. In what war was the famous library of .\lexandria burnt ? 

285. What was the character of Casar's administration of the govern- 

ment, after the complete overthrow of Pompey''s partisans .■' 

286. To what offices was he appointed ? 

287. \\ hat was the end of ( resar ? 

288. Under what circumstances was the second Triumvirate formed? 

289. For what did Antony summon Cleopatra to appear before him ? 

290. What caused the overthrow of Antony ? 

291. What became of him? 

292. What induced Cleopatra to destroy herself? 

SECTION XXXV. 

293. What power was given to every head of a family ? 

294. What were reckoned the highest points of female merit ? 

295. What qualilicalions contributed most to elevate persons to the high- 

est offices and dignities of the state ? 

SECTION XXXVI. 

296. What was the state of literature in the early ages of the Roman re- 

public ? 

297. Who were the principal Roman historians? 

298. Wlio were the principal Roman poets? 

SECTION XXXVIl. 

299. Was much attention paid to the study of philosophy in the early 

periods of RoTne ? 

300. .\t what time did philosophy become an object of attention with the 

Romans ? 

301. Who first diffused a taste for the study of philosophy among the 

Romans ? 
.302. Who may be reckoned theif moat eminent philosopher ? 



QUESTIONS. 

SECTION XXXVIII. 

303. What were some of the most distinguishing traits of character in tile 

curly Romans ? 

304. What contributed chiefly to their change of character and man- 

ners ? 

305. What were some of the amusements of the Romans ? 

SECTION XXXIX 

306. To what may be ascribed the extensive conquests of the Romans? 

307. What was the number of soldiers in a Roman legion ? 

308. When is it supposed that the tactic of the Romans was at its height 

of excellence ? 

309. By whom was the art of entrenchment carried to great perfection ? 

310. When was the naval military art first known among the Romans ? 

SECTION XL. 

311. When did the most material change for the worse in the national 

character of the Romans take place .' 

312. What were the morals of the Romans in the last ages of the com- 

monwealth ? 

313. From what circumstances did Roman virtue so rapidly decline ? 

314. To what did the Roman republic owe its dissolution f I 

SECTION XLI. 

315. What battle decided the fate of the commonwealth and made Octa- 

vius master of Rome ? 

316. By what name was he now called ? 

317. What event said to be productive of universal joy distinguished hi» 

reign ? 

318. What methods did he practice to keep himself in the favour of the 

people ? 

319. When did Augustus die and at what age ? 

320. How long did he reie:n .' 

321. VN'ho succeeded him .' 

322. What was the character of Tiberias ? 

323. In what manner was he related to Augustus ? 

324. What was the end of Tiberius? 

325. In what year of his reign was Jesus Christ crucified ? 

326. Who was the successor of Tiberius ? 

327. ^^■hat was his character ? 

328. What became of him? 

329. ^^'ho succeeded Caligula? 

SECTION XLII. 

330 By what acts of violence was the reign of Nero, the sticcessor of Clau- 
dius, characterised ? 

331. Who were, the three next Roman emperors? 

332. Under which of the emperors was Jerusalem taken ? 

333. \\'ho succeeded Vespasian ? 

334. What was the character of Titus? 

335. How was it suspected Titus came to his death ? 

336. What three emperors next in order succeeded Domitian ? 

337. What was the character of Trajan and Adrian ? 

SECTION XLIII. 

338. For what length of time did Uie Antonines reign ? 

339. ^Miat was their character ? 



12 QUESTIONS. 

340. What len»th of time was there from the death of the Antonines to 

the accession of Diocletian ? 

341. What was the character of the emperors that reigned in this period? 

342. ^Vhat change in the government did Diocletian introduce ? 

343. Under whom was the seat of the Roman empire removed and "whetr? 

344. What was his religion ? 

SECTION XLIV. 

345. What was the general character of the government of Rome under 
Constantiue ? 

346. In what way did he injure the army ? 

347. What was the policy pursued by the emperor Julian towards Chris- 

tianity ? 

348. Who were the three emperors that succeeded in order to Julian ? 

SECTION XLV. 

349. In whose reign did Christianity become the established religion of the 
Roman empire ? 

350. A\ hy were the Romans less tolerant towards the Christian than they 

were towards the different pagan religions of other nations? 

351. When were the books of the New Testament collected into a vol- 

ume ? 

352. When was the Old Testament translated into Greek from the origi- 

nal Hebrew ? 

353. In what way did Christianity suffer in the third century ? 

354. Did Christianity become more or less pure as it received favour 

from the civil powers ? 

SECTION XLVI. 

455. When and by whom was the city of Rome sacked and plundered ? 

356. What is tlic length of time from the building of Rome to the extinc- 

tion of the empire ? 

357. What may be considered the ultimate cause of the ruin of the Ro- 

man Empire ? 

358. Who was the last emperor of Rome? 

359. When was he compelled to resign the throne ? 

360. By whom was he compelled to do it ? 

SECTION XLVII. 

361. From what country is it supposed that the Goths were originally de- 

rived ? 

362. What was the character of the ancient Scythians ? 

363. Of what nation were the Germans a branch? 

364. What effect had the religion of the Goths upon them, as a warlike 

people ? 

SECTION XLVIII. 

365. Were the Roman laws retained after Italy was conquered by the 

Goths ? 

366. What character does Tytler give the conquerors of Italy? 

367. \Vhat government did the Goths establish in Italy after its conquest ? 

368. Was it elective or hereditary ? 

SECTION XLIX. 

369. What are the most ancient books of history in existence ? 

370. Who are some of the earliest writers of profane history whose works 

are still extant ? 



QUESTIONS. 13 

371. What modem histories of Greece and Rome are most worthy of pe- 

rusal to the person who has attended to orig^inal works named ? 

372. What may be considered the greatest magazine of historical knowl- 

edge ever collected ? 

373. What are esteemed the lights of history ? 

— eo©— 
PART SECOND. 

MODERN HISTORY. 

SECTION I. 

374. At what aera is the commencement of profane history dated ? 

375. What new and powerful dominion arose in the latter part of the sixth 
century ? 

376. To whom do the Arabians trace their descent? 

377. When and where was iViahomet born ? 

378. What was his descent and education ? 

379. What is the sacred book of the Mahometan religion called ? 

380. By whom antl under what circumstances was it written ? 

381. What are the nature and substance of Mahometan religion ? 

382. What caused the banishment of Mahomet from Mecca ? 

383. What is his flight called ? 

384. When did it take place .' 

385. Did the Mahometan religion have a rapid increase ? 

386. What was the title of the head of this empire? . 

SECTION II. 

387. Who were the Franks ? 

388. From what did they receive this name ? 

389. Under whom and what circumstances were the Franks converted to 
Christianity ? 

390. Who delivered France from the ravages of the Saracens? 

391. At what time did this take place ? 

392. With whom and under what circumstances commenced the second 
race ofkings in France ? 

393. Who succeeded fepin in the sovereignty of France ? 

SECTION III. 

394. How was the power of the government divided and exercised in the 
early parts of the French monarchy ? 

395. What was the religious character of the ancient Germans ? 

396. What new system of policy arose at this time among the united 
Germans and Franks, which extended itself over most nations of 
Europe ? 

397. What is to be understood by the Feudal System ? 

398. What effect had the Feudal System on the power of the sovereign ? 

399. By what name is the second race of French kings called ? 

SECTION IV. 

400. How came Charlemagne into possession of the undivided sovereignty 

of France ? 

401. What was his private character ? 

402. When did he die ? 

403. Who was his successor ? 



aiESTlONS 
14 

SECTION V. 

404. What is said of Charlemasrne i. relation to commerce ? 

405. How did he view hterature . f „ ^^^^i^i and cuUiT»Ud 

406. What style of arclnlccture wai successiuiiy mu 

407 ^^t\'lnfuina^y and most iniquitoo. cu.tom of the preunt time 

may be traced to the a^e of tharkma-..c . 

SECTION VI. 

408. What great heresies existed iu the ChrUtian church ubout Ihi. 

409. By whom and when was the Arian heresy ""J"'"''*'*' » 
4i0. What was a.ourceof the mo,t oUt.uate o.r.trov. r-v .., '^'-'.^r*-, 

411. What ^ave rise to penance* and otlier rcl "5 

412. What etfect had the conquests of Charleu. 

SECTK'N VII 

413 Who was the immediate successor of t'harUmijn< 

414. Did his empire remain entire under his siif cts'orsr 

415. What was tlie character of hi* sucre»»ort .' 

SECTION VIII 

416. ^Miat was the condition of the Htstern tmr*"" duriuj ihc eighlh aad 

ninth n^ntiiries ? 



417. What was the chaiacter of the eniptron ' 

418. What religious dispute prevailed at this Utut ' 



ninth centuries ? 

iiactc 
pule 

SECTION IX. 

om dill the P 
aid of the reli 
period ? 



ofthit 



419. Under whom di<l the Pope begin to acquire ti i 

420. What is said of the religious character of the t< 
period ? 

421. What check was there, at this time, to the bcreasing power of lh« 

church of Rome ? 

422. What is the character of the clergy of thii period .* 

SECTION X 

423. By whom was the empire oi .Morocco founde.l ' 

424. ^^ hen did the Saracen? overrun and conquer Sp^jn ? 

425. Was the Mahometan religion extensively proft»»cd * 

426. What prevented the Saracens from raising aa rxlrofivc empire * 

SECTION XI 

427. What had hecome the condition of tht i n pire f.>un<i« «l ty C i. <riL- 

magne, in the tenth and eleventh rrniim. ^ * 

428. How were the emperors at this time eh ct« d ' 

429. Who were some of the most distinguished monarchi of Germanf in 

the middle ages .' 

430. Were there frequent disputes between the Popes of Rome kod Ctr- 

man emperors ? 

SECTION XII. 

431. From whom is it probable the British isles derived Ihtir first inhabi- 

tants ? 

432. What was the condition of the country when invaded by the Ro- 

mans r ' 

433. When did Julius Casar enter Britain ? 



QUESTIONS. 15 

434. Wlirn «lid n rouiplete redaction of the uUod take place, and put it 

.... 1 .- . 1. . i» ._ .. . ... - > 

1 th«> coustrr ? 

.- lh« Hritoni? 
^ . >h4 ti br the Saxoni ? 

•i-j'st. W Itrti and b)r waom Wiu tiii- a«x<Ni Hc-)jt»rchy brought under one 

♦OT«T'l^ * 

440. \V|i .' ' ;,■ (or a long period tuhM-queut to thi», detolatcd 

■• .»» thtrt- hctwt-en Alfred tht Great and Egbtrt? 



V 



ofAlfrtd' 
1 the govtmmcDt of Kitgland lub- 



4:6. ^M. rinuiiily put in pof»ctiioD of the throne 

S»!:« TIO.N Mil 

4 !7 \\*h»t w^« thr '■h^n*"'T "f 'he A-^r'"»-''^x<»» foremmcnt ' 
1 ; rr ' 

< with |hc .Normant in point of 

fRCTION .\IV. 

Who was elected to the throne of Knuicr, A. I). 987? 

t I ^^ h4t wr«' " ' - .. - - ,j^p naliou» of l.iir.>j-< (iur- 

in^ thr ; 
.1 • \\K..t « ._ J .. ^r* of Europe lu {Muit of cif 

putc bitweeo the Pop«« and the Eapcron ' 

.'TmoN .XV 
What w»» «h. •fllkstiup* 



\\ U' wtff icuii ui Uit uJiiatil.uU lucttu.^fs cf ^^ uw.un llu conquer- 
or' 



of Henry II.? 



, iCrrmanjr' 

Under what •oTcrcifo wa» the Mafna Cbafta produced.' 

f»FCTH»N .VVI 

\M\At two f ,r t;,>,,» wfr. there in Italy in the thirteenth century ? 

lie of Europe at Ihii time ' 

SECTION XVII. 

Who wn' ■ ' ruiade* ? 

What w.i I? 

470. What *:>• •> • ii'iiiiL'-f • 1 ! . •• ■ i urmy, and when did be conuncuce 
hi* erii«.i-lc ''^ th'* Holy Land ? 



QUESTIONS 
16 

S ^i':ra^:coatSc undertaken and bow -ub, «W^ to 

473. What was the fate of this rxpodition' 

474. Who headed the third cTUsadt ? 

475. Whin wa. the fourth •'tl*-f °»;^ . , ^^M ww it. ii 

476. What particular success attended on^'J^^'J", 

477. Who undertook the la*t cnrnde a»to the U>t 

478. What became of Uwis 1\. eiir»t«d u» U»e cru 

479. How many, is it nippoM:d, of the per»oD» wno en^M^ 

fades, peri.«hed ' 

480. What beuetit resulted from the cruttdci • 

PKCTION XVIII 

481. How was the profrssion of arms . »te.:n. d "Tf-X^.^u"' ' 

482. What is said to have tntu ,hant«tir..t.c^of Ibt OoChK .^u. r 

483. Wh.n did chivalry attain it» jHrl.cti.M. ...,,., 

484. What writings accon.panied tin- adv. nturr. o( chO»'ry 

485. Are works of ficUon capable of producing ^^oJ ia.#»i eUctu . 

SECTION \I\ 

486. When did the rmsadTS t.tk i 

487. How long: did thf Kn luh « ;i 

4r!8. Whun may tin rise of thf ho..-. .1 -.um-, , . . .-i- ■■ v ,w« 

489. How did the states of Italy compare at Ihu Ua.* with mo»X ul UM 

other countries of KurojH; ? i • iw« 

490. What severe and bloody measare wth adopted u> r»lat«oo Xo IM 

Knig^hts Templars ' 

FF.CTION XX 

491. When did Switzerland b. com'- indrptndcnt * 

492. By what naiui was it th«n railed ? 

493. To what eovernmrnt had it b«-»n «iil>j' ct' 

494. Whiit was the uumbtr of battU? loughl before It b«<«i 

dent ? 

SECTION XXI 

495. What prince imposed a tribute on all the Italian flatn f 

496. In whose time was the Popedom remored to \Tt{iKNl* 

497. How long did it remain there * 

498. \\ hat act dislini:ui«hed Ih. n i;pi of Char', f IV. • 

499. Who summoned the council of Cointauc, ISII' 

500. What martyrdoms were the corisequrr.r. of ihii connri] ' 

501. Ey whom was the wealth of the Germaoic lUtr* poMcMcd f 

SECTION XXIl. 

502. ^^'hat character is given of Henry III. * 

503. By whom was he made a prison, r ' 
Who succeeded Henry III. on the throne of Kn»Uod * 
^^ heu an<l by whom was Walts conquered ? 



504 

505 



SECTION XXIII 

- ....V »^ f\\£> «4*»l« i-if 

111.? 

IVhow 

Who became compriitors to the c^own,^'«B5. 



506. What is the state of the Scottish hi%tory before the time of >Ulc}U 



^J3' ivu° T"*" ^''^ ^^'^ "<^*' succeeding kinp of ScoUaud ? 

itW. W ho became compriitors to tl 

509. How was the dispute decided : 



avtsmoss 17 

510. m a d..tininii.hed WMTMT WMT, »t Ikit lime, u> awert the libertin 

of h.t I ju.'itrT ' 

511. n ,,? 

*'*• ^<' "» iWliverinr Voll.nd ff.»m iht Eaxluh aad 

»<k* crvWi^d •u»trr((ii of it, ISlf 

614. How BMj iiac« ia ba rcigv u br Mud to karc raiiOcd Um .V«nM 

5 IS. With bow Urx* an amy diJ b« iavadc SooUasd ' 

Me. Wuh vh«t(brr -'■'■■■ 

bit. \\ bo drthr.»n „ hut cirrum.tancM ' 

ML I,, wh.t .n.:, fb»ralhcf- 

UlU. ^ Janillcrrm 

•41. WTitt klnf pf Fr»nrr»nt rarrf- 1 r^i.'I.f • . 1 ^ ^4 bj who« ' 

III. in Eofland.' 

MrmrJN X\V 

' ftf.lr.l him » 
' wecu Ibr bottM« ol' >-ni>rar- 

;;b( to (he throac of Trance 
*''*• ^y '■ ^ •!• enabled loarcure (b« Ihiwic of France 



^ -anipeallbu period? 

•a<. kib«i urcuaMtaocet mow tital il «a« m a low tUlc? 

M • \.\VI 

S33. At wha* timr .li-l fh. 1 ,rf . .(.. Fur.!-- ' 

&34 

^ , !• 1 urki 

^i. or Ihr Tufkf » 

*»^ '■•«•• I'*", '"' »i •• i"i.i b*a ibe catUro empire 

M8- !-.•• •' 'hr rapirr of the Ilajt, a* U waa termed * 

&!^. VtlMt U Ibe r 

iMi W).,. i,„, ,. , „.„^ jj Turk..h SuJtan' 

, ti^ni of (be coTenftsetit en- 

^43. . . ;a« rx\ eooea of (he forcmoieQl obtaiocd ' 

BEcno.N -X.Win 

h4i. U h.t f'^tlj iarrrmeed Um power of the Freocb crown in (he IStb 



jj QIESTIOXS 

M5. What was the character of Lewis XI. ? 

546. Wlw were the two iumedjate 5Ucce.»on of Uwu XL, oa ll»c UtfOM 

of Frnnce ? ..#•/•»- > 

547. In what forci-a cnteq.rise did Charles \ III. of I nncr tuff . 

SECTION -X.M.V 

548. What circumstance united Uie kiugJomi of .^irsfoa «nd CaMik 

under Ihr same sovereigns ? 

549. What institutions wire formed in this ptnod lor th» dueottry Rttd 

punishment o( crimes ' 

550. When did Ferdiijand take the title. '. 

551. How long time did the dominion ol • 

5o-2. On what account and whtu did Ftr.uu>i..i tij.i u*. ^i-- >■ ^^ 

Spain ? 
533. How nnmerous were they ' 
554. What memorable discovery was made in thb niga ' 

SECTIO.N XX.X 

5oj. ^\"hat wa« the character of pope Alexander VI. * 

556. What became of him ' 

557. Who conspired to deprive Lewis XII. of Nararr* * 

558. When did he die ? 

SECTION X.VXI 
j>53. How did the partisans of York and Lnnra»ter di«trngtii»b lh«ns«lvr« 

from each other? 
560. Which party triumphed* 

Sol. Howmany of the Lanca«trian« w»rr «i .- . 

b&2. To whom was Edward IV. in the fsr^: » 

throne ? 

563. AWdt caused Warwick to turn a^ninst Edward ' 

564. \Miat epithet was given to W arwirk ' 

565. Who was the queen of Henry VL and m: ■ 

566. What of Henry VL— of his que»-u .M^r ,, 

their son ? 

567. Who was Richard III ■ 

568. How did hn.come to the throne ' 

569. What became of him r 

570. What became of Edward V. ' 

571. How were the House, of Urk Rnd Uncter united, m\uch pat a 
._ P^"«l to the evil wars Mwen thrm ' *^ 
57„ What IS said of the government of Hcury VII. • 

i'ECTIOX XXXII 

573. VVliat was the state of the feudal sv-t, ., ,..-.. ., , 

5/4. \\ hat was a conaant iKilicy of the' ^ 

575. What Scottish king was prisoner v. .., ,..K Uh« 

king of France ? . y •..h lAho, 

576. How loo, was h. held in captivity thrrr - 

580' W-.T '"i'*'^ '^' ^'' J^'"* »^-' come - 

581 Wh^t u SECTION XXXIII 

^^ ^^^ was the constant policy of the Scott«b ki,.p f 



QUESTION?. 1» 

5tt. Wh»t n T ? 

SO. In »hom . „ , vrer* 

6S4. Of what did Ui« revenue ol Uir •o^rrcifv cootwt^ 

. . - , 1 \- 

SRS. Wbo wrre the hn'. H Europe ? 

US. l%l»i wref^ifot ia Uu« af* ««AM*ra«ea Ibe rrviTm) of leamin* in 

Eoroftr ' 
687. What diftinipuebrd frwof apprartd in the middlr of the thirteenth 

renturr ' 
S88. In rBM«MidiMX>r«r ilfelC 

M9. W)'. uf OMBJ of the ancient aathort, during the 

6M>. \N>>>' >itcd OKMt to th« diMeminatton of knowle^tfe :tt thit 

prn, ! 
S91. To what n to be trmccd akodtm dnuBftltc coapoaitioa f 

81 ■ ■ V 

•i'i? Wh»t w-». ihr >w^l.!rtl I f t^r aifirntt 

•,U» 
•<J» r<(Mifii«d * 



I' »£^1 



!» 
..,., ,. . . : _ jort»Otf 

M^*. \Vi irtc a^e* pATUrulariy cncourafrd cooi- 

«<rrTloN xxxvf 

r..", \\ 

,^,j \\ , ird m the fifteenth fen- 

It '•■ - 

JOS. \M .the Cap* of Good Hope double.! ' 

r toe. II J*a iLc VortnpHm poweMioia in ladta her. :i. .1 

i> 
,-'-,■ ■'-- -nmerre of E"'---' • 

. «de of th' •• * 

•duccd a "j ■ ic- 

rrit»iB tince the reigra 

Ol ■ I J • 

fll. \\i . .t, Af 'h*- prpuUtkKi »» • " »« employed ta 

" '' r . 1 

011, ||, . hat been a ffwil increa»e of Dattooal 

H. .,•.. ... t 

^^:^TIo^ xxxvii. 

I €n UTm* wrf» th* part^t. of Charle* V. f 

(Spain* 
. . V. fot the throne of Auttria am 



rlr» ir,.1 Ennrit * 

(the war? 



gj QUESTIONS. 

620. ^^-hen and by whom was the order of Jcuit. (bonded ' 

e^l. What was the iiriuciplt "i the order . 
6^2. WTiat ?ave Charl. » pi-rpctual ciiviuu-t i. • 

623. At what age and where did he riwgu hu 

SECTION XXXVIII 

624. A\'hat was the cmAhioa of the Geruiaii.c empire preTioo. ir ! :.r r- gn 

of Maxiniilian I. ? . , 

625. What emperor acquired the greatcil power »n UeroMoy • 

SECTION XXXIX. 

626. What important pvents distinsruished the iff of <*h»rl« V.f 

627. WhowaJsaUa.iau' luc»ug the RrfonMt*o« . 
62!!. Who was Roman . 

629. \\ hat practice oil. ' '' ' ' '" ' ' •^•' *"»-'[""' , 

6S0. What procured H< • -y WU. ' tUc I utb 

631. What di9tin»iii>h«d rif.Tmer.M ^ • . t\. 

632. \\ hat sovereisrn at this time wm upon the Umj«»«:» «»l bwrdc*, l>et- 

raark, and iNoiway? 

603. Who was Guttavus Vasa ? 

634. ^Vhr.t act of l,c.i X. and of ChrUtuTn II. <ouinb«(»d to lb* rvfsCR* 

tion in the nf'rth? 

635. From v hat circumstance did the LulJirnkiw dcnrc Um ummmti Plot 

estants ? 
635. Who became a distinguished coorrrt to the doctitaM trf the rxto: 
niatiou in Genera? 

637. What is said of the chararter of Calria ' 

SECTION XI.. 

638. 'VMiat reformer arose in Eugl^d m the middle of lit* (ooitMttth etc 

t'jry ? 

639. In what way had Wirkliffc prrpafrd Ibr trntuU <>( liir pcopla ot Ca( 

land for the nforraati )n * 

640. V'ho was the imnn iliate cauae of it * 

641. What led Heury VIII. to declare him*clf hr^id uf the chanh tu Em- 

land ? 

642. When did he die, and by whom wa« hi- »u«<fedr»l ' 

643. A\ hat checked the prt.^'rn» of r- k.rni »iuu m Eu^.aod, in %h* jr%T 

1553 ? 

644. II'iw many Trotcstanti suffered martyrdom dartn]( the rrifnof Mr/j, 

in L)i^laud ? 

645. In whose rei-n did the Prote.tant rrli^ion bccocae r«t»bli«br<l Accord- 

ing to its present form iu England ? 

SECTION XLL 

64C. Who diicovered America? 

647. To whoai did he aj'ply in vain forai'1 in maktn* dt»c«T*h«* f 

648. Who finally fumifhid him for th.- v..y.,-. ' 

649. How long alUr Lolumhu. left the t anants, before he diKOVctvd 

laud ? 

650. In which of his voyages did be di»corrr thr continenl o( AaMfk« t 
6ol. Jrom whom was the name of Ami r 

652. How did the Spaniards trtat the ...i. . ib« newly d»COTcr«d 

countras 1 ' 

654* HnwL^"V'I l^T '''" ^^"^ conUnent of America rsplorwl t 

604. How long had the Mexican en.pire been fouLdcd M thtt 
»JD. \\ ho was the sovereign of it : 



QtE.<TTOXS Jl 

Who 11. ' rt' 

What »►• 

V\H» «r •• • nfhnn ? 



•«Mi'>a* •' 



takrn a^iiinM Prrn ' 
lutsDcc* that attended 



t\\r Anirfirkn >nani<h 



81 < I. II 

6«4. Whit riT-'ct b»d !h« m'- r^paniardt on Ihe o<hern»tioni 01 

Lurx>f* • 
MS. Who Lrtt wltlrd Prmtil, nonda. %ttd C»n»ia ^ 

666. FrxMB what did Kn|land dcrirv brf n^t U> h«>r Amrhcvi Mttlts 

667. \\»> 

in. H<>« V Brilub colooutt 

PKCTION XUII 
649. What »«• ibr •talc of Om fine arU la Euroiw in (lie time of Leo X 
ffTO. Wh. 
671. lu 

•on? 



HrfTtoN \i IV 

What!. etntarff 

^77 l>, iM.i|>lr« of ■ahtime ju- 

'''' ' 

678. Uliai c«w)ui»i« a*U lU*> 1 uU* omIu, tu u^ u»terolh ccoturj 

»r.CTI0N XLV. 
tW. Wh*r nrntim*^ % r»»©lution lo P«ma in !»»« laltrr part of the if 

680. >V: ■nrntaifwnU 

^|_ !•, ,»•(>•(# who occajioDcd 

^8«^ \\l. . • . ..i ...' k.i .;: J> "fThiV- I f illicit » 

>l iThiN MM 

683. \Mm> ha« rtirT>;4>«i \ht - : 1 . ' . 

664. Mow dolh»«« acc^aoU , ^. «»i irifol coodition of the 

llia<looa ' - . • . , 

i 6*^^. \^h•• ' ' •■• N!.'. mriw»« h«>tin an e»tabli»bm«>t IB India 
' 686. V^ i of ibc Moful mpirc in the befiniuBf of the 

eST. ^^ i> n of the Mo^ul cspir* aboai 

SEtTUJN .Xl.VII 
4ff. II . r*«»»in» of tbr »i»c«cnl knowUd^ oi in«- iio. 



j2 QIESTIO.NS. 

«fi9 How has the bodv of Hindoo people b< « n di. iH. d ' 

S Ivhit inference is" to be drawn from thu c:..,Uual*cu of the Hindoo^ 



690 
691 
692 
C93 



as to thtir Karly tivih/ittioB ? . 

\\ hat was the civil policy of the Hiudoos in the tune of Alexaiulcr 

the g-reat ? ■ • i . i . 

Wliat is the antiquity of some Hindoo coropowlion* UteJy Iran*- 

What is the antiquity of some numerical tables lately obtained from 

the Braniins bv M. Gentil ? 

694. Wliut do the wiitiijgs ol lh« Hindoo prit»t» d«.mon»lfale . 

695. What is llie rLJi^'luu of India gtntrally ' 

SECTION Al.VMI 

696. What is faid of the !aw» and ."ystem of jjoTirnmcut in Chioa? 

697. When did the Tartars establish th.mjtlvei pt rmanentljf in Ihe •ov- 

erc-ijnty of China .' 

698. When and by whom w:i« the empire of Japan ditrorerrd ' 

699. W !io carried on a beneficial trade with the pi-oplc of Japan * 

700. What caused this trade to be broken offr 

701. Wiiy ib it that the Dutch are ^tili allowed to trade with ihc Ja|>a. 

Bese ? 

SECTION XI.IX 

703. To whom docs Fir W'illi.un J.>ne« trace the origin of the ('biiu-*« 
70o. VShat is the »ovtriiinent of China ? 
7U4. How ar' honours bestowi d in China* 

705. What is the sialf of Uie »ci«nr. » in China at thit time ? 

706. What arts in China are carried Jo great p«rlcclK»n? 

707. What are the morals of the Chinese ? 

'lOli. W hat Chinese writer is said to have produced a good •yttein of mo* 

rality ? 
7U9. What is the relijrion of the emperor and the higlH-r mandafin* f 

SECTION L 

710. What wa< the opinion of Mr. Bailly concerning the art» and Krifn- ■ • 

ainoni; the nations of Ihe east ? 

711. How long have they been stationary with the Chinrtc ? 

712. -At how .arly a period are thu Chaldeant reprcMOted to have b««» 

an enlightened people f 

713. Is the opinion of Mr, Bailly well founded ? 

."ECTION I.I 

714. Who took Calais from the Kjigiuh for the French ' 

715. How lon^ had it bt-en in poss.ssion of the Engluh' 

716. What was the ch.iracter of I'hilip 11. > 

717. Thegovirnm-ut did he ronftr on th.- rr;nr. o| Oran-r ' 

l]a Fvf '''^^"; P"'"Pf'»«; f*'J ^"- ««t.abl.»h the ^qu.Mt.Pn m thoM- proTUjrei > 
71J. What led to the eslabiishiueut of the republic of the MvcD united 
provinces ? 

720. \yhat is the chief maeietratccaJkd ? 

721. What became of the T'ririce of Orun-e? 

722. Who iided this republic in oblaming independence » 

SECTION LII. 

Sa" u-^t "'''' "" S''"^""'"'* ''f t»'« »^^"« united province! ' 

'-i' \\^l\ '»"P'>[''^'it evil 1, there in the con»t,tmi,.„ of the rorrrnm^nt 

...4. W hat was thi. authority of the chief magistratt r '*' ^ ""° "' 



QUEST1058. « 

7t6. >M>o almost annihilated the rvpublic ' ^ 

7*7! When wa« Ibe JSudlLoldtnh.p made bt r<diUry . 

SECTION in I 

m^ jf^^ ^r^ the lot* of the Ntlherlandi compeasHed to Philip II. * 
ii did he take |>OMe»Muu of Porliic*! ' , du i- > 

t oaraJ ^nterprue cnfa^ed the altcction of PbiUp . 

' ;i, \^ iiiii wa» the rrjull oi' it ' 

TSi. Vi bat u the diaracler of I'UUip ? 

PECTHiN I. IV 

ition in France * 
1 war in the Utter pvt of 

r»S Whr.. *. ,cre of St. Bartholomew* 

• fChariet IX. .>f fr»..r.' 
ate »ucce»»or» 

What ^c»l'pn>i'ect wiu Henry IV. med.latmj, when a»«Mbuled * 
8ECTIO4N l.v 



I ' 



740. When d; ' 
7 1 1 W hat m 

Ln<>« r » 
,^^ ^^^^ lithed in bcoUiuul, lu the rwign of 

-J- ^^1^ tijrr in Scotland ? 



th' 

..< <l and executed ' 



fifmoN i.vi. 

7M. Wh.,.u. .».. Ihr.n. 1? 

•rdrr UtiOuu . 
.«' 
7., What w». a 1 'fl >».lhJa»oeif 

7'-,1: wtlat V ^" ' •.. , rincipal .ubject. of dispute between Charle. 

7:4i. wT' ^' ot. to rttrl and take up artni a^in.t the jovem- 

_ . v" •»•• * ■ lividuali at thi. time wer« impeached hj 

.» there at thif thne in Inland ' 

who were on lb« tide of the Kinj, 



7fl. W 



of p:irliament * 

lire the death of Charlci f 



. ll>,w lax wcrx. tht pr.Hcedinp of the common, jualifiable • 



QUESTIONS 

z4 

SECTION l-VII. 

766 ^Vhat partdi.! the parliam.n. of t^cnland lake in f»^ U) U.« kmj ' 

767 On what con-iition was CharU , II. proclaimed k.»5 of Scolland 

768. Who were the Cot enfln/tr* of Scollaud? 

769. What became of Charl« II. whtn overcome by t romw.U. 

770. What was the title of Cromwell ? ^ 

771. What was the character of hi? jov<rnm«-r« 

77i>. .At what aje did he die, and who was hi. Mirce«or . _ , , 

773. What was the parliaiiitut called that put tn d. ath kinf <Ti»rlr. 

774. Under what circumstances and when was Ch»rle« II. rwtored ' 

SECTIO.N LVIII 

77.5. What was the rh.^ractf r ol Charl. ? II. ' 

776. When were Uie tpithets of Whig afld Tory fint koovn, and how 

were they applit d ? 

777. Who was the successor of Charln II. ? 

778. What made him unpopular with hii »ulyect» ' 

779. By what means was iJiMtffes removed from Iht throne 
730. On whom was the crown then settled ? 

781. What became of James ? 

Sr.fTION MX 

782. To what period may the ruditmuli uf (bv FnglUb coatlilalioo b« 

traced? 

783. In whose reism was instituted the u. 

784. In wliO.«e rti^n did ihe .Vrti-^ia Chif 

785. In whose reis:n was the ad o( Habeas Cv 

786. Of what dots the purliaai> nt ol Cjriiit lui. 

787. Of what do«-s the hous*- of lord*ron»i*t ' 

788. Of what does, the hoii«' of common* ttasiji ' 

789. What is the act of Habeas Corpus ? 

SECTION I..\ 

790. How are the pecauiary supplic* of the toverrig;n oblmjoed ' 

791. When did the En^if' ' ' ". ari»e ? 

792. What const it ut( < ti 

793. Is il probable the n ..... . )aic ciUoct ' 

SECTION I..\I. 

794. To what mini-1,r was Prance indebted for much of her rood lacccM 

in the reieu of l.rwis .Mil. ' 

795. AVhat was the character of I^-wi* Mil. > 

''^^' ^X^in '.''"^*"'''* '^^ <^'^"'^'ii"'' of the rroteitant* in the rcijii of Uwii 

797. W hen did he die ? 

SECTION EX 11 

?99' ^n''' 7aI^'''^ ^efcMc .ct did Philip III. commit' 

799. ^\ hen did Fortugal become an iudcp<,Mi:m K.rere.rT.1, .» 

800. >> ho became her first kin? r * ' 

801. What is said of Spain in the rei-n, of Philip III. and IV. > 

SECTION EXIII 

^^~' ^ThrlT"'^' condUion of Germany when CharU. V. abd^c^Ud lb. 

'''■ 'tt\rG.ra.r;> '" '^ ^^"^^^^"^^ ^^^^^^ • .«I,ect of come.. 



fil. TMiat'peac* put a period to lhi» contention? 
8Uo. When did th« peace of Writphalia take place ? 

J*r.CTK)N I.XIV 

806. Whra did Leivis XIV. cooi*: to the throne of Fnuicc' 

uti": \ t \\\\ .. I -i^* ' 

lu a civil war iii the early part of hi« reign .' 
^?4Z:.ri:i "lie .' 
hiO. U li • ; ).ic<* in the aff:»ir* of Fmnn- at thii time ? 

CM. W|, i «!« ol ihe meakrft auU mo»t impolitic nica^uret 

of L* Wis \i\ . 
819. \%'T'at wa« thr ttmle of the finmnre« of France in the latter p«rt of 

til. ' XIV.? 

813. W»i irrnofLewJ* XIV. » 

L14. At\*u.i .i«u did he d»r ' 

HF.CTION LXV 
813. What (hMDj^e tonk place in the joremmrnt of France, under the 

C »{'< t 11 ' •< < I Uii.,'« ' 
81$. y>'h <i( and check the rojral prero^iTe, io and 

fr. « Mil. 

Wh i( ut*dr (hr I'Ot*. i* v( parliaoirnt a rnnttitnt inhject of dirpute ? 
In wh.it way w»» llie c r«>wii «»f y r^r^rt- !-■ •!. •rmd ? 
What w • thr ttt4MMh. 
V^ hat took place id Lhr .. au church, io 1682.' 

f*^^ sErTinjj Lxvi 

821. U*hat tv r »rtrr» io the north of klurojM wtr« 

conteiB'. . V. f 

' •• '• . / . . .• -nitv? 

Ill KuMta? 

...,..-c' 

o( the Rutfian empire ? 

if£l. \V hat intthod did he adopt to improve hiniMlf in (he •cienccj and 
iKrfal art* ' 
WiM-n and at what :>' \llroB>e» 

«i w»- »( a;,- Anil » wai Inn » 

'Hi lhr ^.•rrmmenl -i i.'i.v:,.! 
I? 

■ r(\ \n him %tirT thi» drfrat ' 
' n r» w>rt to rt|piu hij lofi power ' 

When did Pttrr the Urtat die ? 

SECTION LXVI I 

•' - . -I . >. - ■ > -^ in the >eTentceiith cintttry ? 

.',...; . , hich contributed to the adrancc- 

rornl ol 
Whatw.r, ■ fh. I Umrnts .-if nil philofophy ? 

What waj l-orkc't lhciT> iid ' 

What arc tome of the : •'! production* of 

moiirm tim«t * 
84*. W ho arc iomr of the moat eminent r.njfli»h Poet* ? 
S43. Who wrrt" di»tinfui«htd writefi in hi»torjr during thi If.lh and ITlb 
ccntufiri ' 

4 



2g QUESTIONS. 

APPENDIX. 

HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 

SFXTION I. 

844. What constitutes the basis of the finl hiilorical rtrordt ? 

845. How call we accouut for lh« Jabulom rclatioot of the fint httto- 

riaus ? 

846. From what period are tke details m profam hUtory to b» rrccivrd 

as facts ? 

847. What historical records are tlic most ancient u well as lh« moat r»- 

lional ? 
840. What liistorical facts do lliey contain, net fouud io other lustory * 

SECTION II 

849. Who were the Israelites ? 

8n0. Why were they •lufftred to be sulxtiinl by thf Komani ' 
851. In what condition do their ilt-^n ndaiH^ ixitl ' 

85'J. What circumstance illustratts the truth and inspiration "I the pro- 
phetic writings ? 

SEtTlO.N III 

853. How long before Herodotus did .Mi.»i » live ' 

854. What acknowled<;raent did Porphyry make a* to the antiquity of 

the writings of Moses ' 

855. What pajran tradition? confirm the troth of the Prutateurh * 

856. What is said of Zoroavter ? 

857. What Jewish historian succvssfully vindicates the •utbority of «» 

Jewish scriptures ? 

SF.rTION IV 

858. What arc the principal i";irts record, d in the bo.>k of Gtnrtis ' 
o^n" ^}^^^ remarkabje prophecy of Isaiah is there touctrnun* t.ru. 
86U. And what one concerning Babylon > 

8U1. What was the length of ti.n. from the piTin,r of the U» to Motri to 
the reformation in worship and govrrnojenlof the Jcwi br N.he- 
miah r »■/•-« 



fi^' wl!"'! hereditary distinction of mnk .xi.ted aroonj ihe Jrwt* 

8bo. Wkat IS said o!" Mos^s Ki;,|,a, ^nd C.„\,■.^n ' 

^^^' ^^SrcV"'"""^ undoubted .haracteristic of truth U Ihert in ih. .cp- 



Sr.CTION V 



8Cg' aS".??**^' "■^^u*'" ''^'^'- '^"^''' accomplished » 

IuJL;^^ ^'^^ "'^'^ "^'^ ^^"'=^^''^^'* cirrunutance. of the ^U^ 

S Uh'lV^.f'^T" "^^'>" -l«l«*tof them live > 

870. ^^ ho were some of the first invLter. ofX Lcful arU » 



*ri «7u • SECTION M 

871. What IS said of the three sous of Noah > 



972. Whstt is the moit important event bclwecu the delude and the call 

of Abraham ■ 
Sn'J. Of what cil/ Wk« Babel the be^ioniiif * 

SECTION VII 
in I Proa whom Ao the Jewt di ri»i th< ii origin * 

WhM rtlati"'ii»bip *«• tin r«- U twr<a Jacob t\nd Abraham ? 

n 'W ' 1-n. Jr>,jti. t'lr • II . ! .It ' . to hf- in K.'-N-jt ' 



II. .» |..i>^ .111 111. I 

What wirr aoiut oi ' w iib their leariaj 

It ' 
How loug after Icaviu^ ^>;yp* did Motc« die i 

FnCTION VIII. 



' ' lit ou the dralb of Sftnucl ' 

>-r<TK»N IX 

' death of Jothua, 
1\hf «:«! ..oieot introduced .' 

-r.CTIO.N X. 

the thronr at hi* *iicrt«Mir * 
• d the reifu of Uarid ? 

: „...• tMccecdrd him .' 
«'i nt m the rvi^ uf ^olumoo ' 

I i..i.r wr •' 

My wlti4t ' > to this diw»ioB 

899. ^^ Um brrame of tlwi ten triU.-* who romlitutcd the kht^^om of It- 

ri»i I ' 

900. Whrnce •pr«ii|r tlM! Samarilant' 

9Ul. \Vh.u au<l tti what oiaDmr *nd«d tb- mn; i u. ■. ji4<lab* 

t«F.CTION .\l 
iO.V How lour wrr» Ihe JrwahrM rsptivr in Babylon' 

'.rr wrrv the ltr%rlitet railed Jew«f 
■ ■' ^itat to march to JerutaJem with hot- 

».. :., ». ..r.t ' 

ibrin ' 

I till- rerard which the Jewt] aid 
\ 
I Hid (hr Ave brolbcri named Maccabeus become di»- 



* ■ : ■ 




.r..,. ., 


^ .»..„ 




n .. 1 


9m. Ir. u 


li 

t did \ 


tlO. Wi. 





28 

911. When and by whom were the Jewi tobj. 

912 Who was then placed ou the Ihrouc ol I ^"W 

9,3 B;?h:t*!;er;ble event w.. the .-iim of H.rH ^.U.r 

914. By whom aud when was the J.-w.,h nM 

915. How many Jew, are .uppo^cd to h.»v. , " l**t ww 

with the Romans ? 

FECTIO.N XII 

916. What is the period of gcriptural hi.tor^- ' 

917. Where is it suppost-d that the Jew* ..Uu.nr , t,«.r .•>..-.. ..j- .i iim» 

arts and sciences? 

918 What was the state of comnn rcr «iniMi< tlir Jrwi 

919 With what iiih rt nee does 'I'ytltr concludt his woHt ott b»U»cy f 



CONTIXl ATION, OU T AIM' 1 HUM). 

SKCTIO.N I. 

920. What was the age of L« wn W . whru the crown of Tnnc* de^tni- 

ed to him ? 

921. When and what heirs to the cmtrn ct rn»»c*, dkd withia » Crw 

months ' 

922. What made it neceesanr for Fninr* oo Ibr dratb c4 l^rwit JHV. lo 

preserve peace witli f.r 

923. Who was n-jront of Kr.: *if ninohlj «^ Lrvit XV, f 

924. What distin^ished mnn-i.t «.ti at the coort ci ^^pftis, M lbs* 

period ; 

925. What was the cbaracttr of the duke of Orlvais*, the rcft«t *>4 

France ? 

926. By what means were the duchiet of lx>fTaio Aad iita naiU to rvTcit 

to France 1 

FELTIO.N II 

927." Who succeeded queen Anne r.n -hr thmnf o( Bnlaja ' 

528. What acts of pariiiin. • • . | cobocclrd witll IW ■rcinioo 

of Gtor»e 1. concerni. 
929. When dul he enter hi- n v • 
m How ,M the rebellion of l7i ,, ,^i^,. 

ooi" u^ ""^^^ °''°'* '"'^'^ "^* "i*^- " '"• <■• ">- /'rt/. ■ 

yJ2. By what name wa, th- ,..rty called to wh.. co^mUlrJ 

the jovtrnment of tli- palm > 
933. Who ^^s kin^ 01 Sweden at thi. lim» f 
SJ4. J- or what purpose and by whom w« h, nr:»rK .„.. -.„.i ... ,„,,J, 

Britain : 
935. ^V).at ruined the prospects of .\lberoni ' 

V'ii. " by .lid lie not succee.P 

938. At what age and when did Georg* I. dit .' 

noQ ,vu SrCTION HI. 

^v-ith the Turks ? '•°»'°»»J« .o the fim w., of tWii VI. 



Ml. What •fT»iif«ineiit did he in»kc tot lb* dewrent of the Auitrifcn 

f-r 

^^ \Vb . ttUted lo rai»« Op comprlUort for dtf- 

. • ^-ti ' 

^43 W*}, ceded iQ obtatoin; lh« impcriAl crown in 

»SI. UlKO d»4 «»• l»»c« oi Ais-i»Cb»|M)lk t»kc pl»cc ' 

IV 

<k .. ,.. I .,. II. cornr to (hi? (hrviK of Fj.g- 



.{luid al tha ttmr ' 

..... ^,^, 

^ «*r bUttrd * 
_.. ^ if allrndiof 

;•. ^ _ ^ . . , . .. Ol WS- I *••< ! 10 tb« jttx 17il ? 

WImb »od at what a^ did livoTf • 

.miTU>N V 
< -.. i»,^ bauw: of iUaoTcr ctficlu»ily wtablifhed 



, %! f .f. - I- f» t * \h>% trciily co«pa/«l with 



Karofi*.' 



jirrrioN vi 

iJ U*t i!-atc ■•! I.ar i<, m i < » •, . »i. tul to Atia 
... » ... I. I... -••■•^pti-d to brin^ the 

,,., V. „. ... _ ^ .... . I lvaiil.»;jr ..n r tll» 

. U Wir in \'t .'I. 1 ' •■> 11 11 •■'■<*« 

red aud car- 



^^ QUESTIONS. 

977 When the war was extended to Europe, trh»l powm «ma|«| 

themselves against each othi-r ^ 

978. Who was kin- ol Prussia at this time . 

979. What is his charactt- r ? ^ 

oQn What has this war been tenneu . . , , ,, . 

98?: How many men have beeu .ai-po.ed to hav. peruhed aanaally bl 
the campainis ol it ? . > 

982. What advantage did the English ^n »> •^°»«'"^V ., , 

983. What new ally did France oLt 'I- ^ t ... l,bl. 

984. What induced him to join Ih. i<iauu 

985. What advanta-cs did Knghii. 1 . ", , l ,« .k. «.,«i » 

986. What change iu the ministry ol Lujiwjd cuuUibutcd to tht i*»« 

SECTION VIl. 

987. When did George III. succeed to the throne of Britmin? 

988. What was one of hit first acU wbich »howcd him to b* tlu frHud 

of libtrty ? 

989. What gave rise to distrewins: tumult' in '" 

990. How did the measures of lord Bntr ,!iil. i •'••t* ^ 

991. What contributed to m:i! •■ • • ' 

992. What beside? public ail ' ' 

popular I'ervour and . ..,..-., 

993. Wii.it constitutional t\o. r Ji»cuMtao 1 1hu Um> 

994. For what is the year ITi i 

SECTION V!!! 

995. WliHl was the pretence for I.' 

996. What was the first instance .;houl lh*i' 

consent ? 

997. When was this imposed 

998. Whfi, was it formally r. ; . .'■ 1 ' 

999. What reason is then- (^i mi;>| oinjr that the AoirrkaiM d ill not car* 

template indtpt-ndcac*.' nhen (hry fint mad* oppeailioa to thr 
British government ? 

1000. How long was it -^t'. r o,. ......inyof tUe »tani|' art bHbi* •»"■ • '■"»- 

menctmeiil o' 1 

1001. When and when V tn indeprsdcDcr dM'lATrd ' 

1002. Who were sent lo Frauti.-, and whvD, to toUcit nidfot th» A«rr.- 

cans ? 

1003. What other powers bf«idf» Unt of * ■ 

1004. When did Great Britain ratify th* •, 

ican ind( pendence ? 

SECTION IX 

1005. Who laid the foundation for the Frmch rvrolatino * 

l^,^" « 'i'^ """■'' ^''^ •'""'" '"^ni*^»-»J from PortunI "> !».«• vrar Miu ■ 

1007. What charge was attempted lo bv fixid On Mum aI I'arii, MibM- 

quent to this? 

1008. Whi-n WHS the order of Jesuits ah, 
l(t09. From what other couulries were tli 

1010. Wl^om dill the drtuphin of Kr.nce, allerwwxi. Lrw« XIV: amnji 

101 1. ^\^leu did he come to the throne ? 

1012. When wa. an alliance formed between the court of VtmiUrt aod 

America r 

1013. Who^we^re the most eminent friend, of Uberty iu ihe BritUh parU- 

1014. ^^^.^^-y,^';time, produced an extraordinary effrr, o„ the Pari- 

sians, agamst the extravagance ..f the J ,. A court .' 






auEsTiox8. ai 

1015>. \^*hAl |>»nicuUr dil1iciiUi«r« ha<{ the king to encounter ? 

1016. \\ • •' • ' '" ! . . I .1 lo haaUn the Trench rerolaUon 

1017. AN , n»ral? 

1018. Who W3U in the ^resell auuatrj when the •latet-gcoerml wa« call- 

ed ^ 

8ECTIUN A. 

1019. Wh»l incooMatnocy wu there in the conduct o( ^laria Theresa con- 

IViO. \N ir bctwr^n Austria and i'rutsia, in the jrar 1778 f 

1021. ^N \ •'riA uki in fr^xxd to the war fur .Americaa ia- 

10)3. Ifow lr»ti» ^ff^^»■ thr rf.nth ••f hi« in.<th'f. M>rl» Theresa, did Jo- 

> 

44C4. 1 I rotation nectUul to 

I02&. ^' 'iou of hitdooMuafu .' 

!*>«• ^' 1 by hla^(»flol>«•r 11, ntji > 

lOJl. ^N >ro thcaMcIrr* mdt)><u<lriil of Aui- 

10211. \' • whom wa> l»r tocceeded .' 

ll^^y. I' V 

lOTW. \" ' 

1031. \- a ukinf part afaintt the rreoch 

1032. Bf mi. ihe Auttriao* assisted afainst the French ia the 

war »i nv'J ' 

SECTION XII 

• ' -"'.I' 

H .rd» 

1< 

r« there at ihu time in Trance of the ancient 
10J7. I' ittenpt lo letcue himself from the re- 



rn^pfiuf in hostililie* 
,'U's with ««pportunit7 ^^ charifioj the 
* ' rn called ? 
>t kwiaf arutocrat*, were anaMinatcd on the 

r * 

u^ht to trial i 
I * 
It were the r«ri>lutKiDitt( Jiridcd, an J nhat 

lecn of France i 



lo- 




1040. 


y. 


1041. 
1042. 
I04J. 


V 
1! 


1041. 
1045. 
104(}. 


1. 


1047. 
104tl. 


What 



22 



QUESTIONS. 



V SECTION XIII 

1049. What chanffe took place in the ministry of Great Brilaiu after Iht 

peace with America ? 

1050. Who succeeded Mr. Fox in the Briti«h ministry .> 

1051. What is the Sinking Fund of Great Britain.' 

1052. What important prosecution was undertaken at tm. luu. t)y the 

British parli;imcnt ? 

1053. How long did it last, and what was its rcjult .' 

1054. Wlun was the attention of the hous* of comnioni first called to the 

slave trade i" 

1055. When was it abolished ? 

1056. What event comp< lied the British parliament to mccl on the 20th 

of November, ITtiU? 

1057. What occurrence arose to Ihreatin war between Cnflaod and 

Spain, in the year 1790 ? 

1058. What led to the declaration of war a^iost the kiag of Great 

Hritain, by France, in the year 1793' 

1059. With what success was the war pr <"k iiti d ' 

1060. What important occurrence took plan in Ireland, 1798 .* 

1061. What important event to Ireland lucceeded ihe iiipprrMton of th' 

rebellion ? 

1062. What took place in India during the last year of the eighteeoUi 

century ? 
lOC.l. What led to the peace of Amieus, between Fraoce and f lorlanif, 
October 1st, lUOI? 

SECTION MV 

1064. What was the situation of Frautc towards the close of the yeai 

1703? 

1065. What took place on the 17lh of Nov«nibtr, 179.1' 

1066. What alteration was llu re made in Ih*- raU ndar ' 

1067. When and where did Napoleon Bonaparte first dutinruUh bimtell ' 

1068. What became of Robespierre .' 

1009. W hat was the government of France, citabliihed and proclained 
in 1795? *^ 

1070. What were the affairs of France externally at thi« time * 

1071. Who were some of her most dislingni.hid jjen. • • 
1U72. ^\ hat territories were a<ldt d to the French r. ; 
1U7J. What became of Lewis XVII. ' 



1074 

1075 
107G 

1077. 



SECTION XV. 

When did Bonaparte receive the chief command of the French 
army in Italy? 
1075. ^Vhat was his age at that time ? 

^K *^^,.^^^^"ction of Mantua, what ,l.d ut .tat. to h.. soldier, had 

been their success ? 
Why were the Venetians unwilling to take part either with the 
Austnans or French? 
1070. «[;;;-t^^ish^ourable conduct was Bonaparte guilty, in relation 

oLt VVh V ^^ expedition did Bonaparte enter, in the year 1798 ? 
m^' M^ . ?""''' ^"^ ^' ^^''' '" ^^'^^ expedition ? ^ ' """ 

083' Vhll T'"""^, '^'f "r "P^' ""^ ?^^^^ ^ '-«• t"^ »'> th- war ' 

re^'rn ITlS'p,^^" ^ ^»^^ ^^--^ -— -"^^ on BcnaparU'. 



QrESTTONP. 

I0tt4. VVh« fi, by whom and wilh what result was the battle of MarcDgo 

• I) whom w • ' 

u whom ^^ 

lij:.7. >Miat w:.» lii. t rvnch powtr, i.i i v, im «.r :it this 

time ' 

SFaTIO.N XVI. 

!.,■ ■ . .. A. A i'.,i,,-.T..ri. II. ik. f"- n li^ion in France? 

' ti France and England, 

ItJUJr 
1001. On thr rmrwril of hf«ttH»!e«, w»»««t ••rtiritjr did Bonaparte fake wr 

?'■ ■ 

109?. ^* 

1093. ^^!.-l' I'-k i'Ui • .1. ti>. li.-.ii •! .'i.'v, it.i.l in. :.J uj lArcmber, 

.. • \« •■•^aronw to Amcri-a ? 

I'ruMiai and Austria, to unite in honliUtiea 



it peace ? 

; lu Uifc i.*AlUt»'ii ui JiMC'iih Bonaparte to 



.irtr to he in H • r, of thii year f 

,. .'.,.,- I, ! • thi-re? 

nf oi UuMia make to tlM French 



1091. 
1093. 




1096. 
10!>7. 


A, 


lo- 
ll' 




not. 

1I02. 
IIOU. 


It 



-F<'T|ON VVfl 



the French ? 

i when * 

.1 by the 



'■• ' Urt'd vaoaul and 

.;»in»( the French ' 
•tu wrns Uw ^rrucii Ua1«u muL cuutiwlled to oracuatc 

nrilish army enter Sftain f 

. wilh frt»h Uoop« from Hiijland, 

■ . ., '.>>a p«>rage i 
>tti of .Madrid to be thrown open to th« 

ifie French '■ 

8F.(mt)N XVIII. 
I m. \\*hai WM tiM partition treaty bitwccn Frwicc and Spain f 
Zx2 * 



I 1 


1 1 


111. 


n;7. 


HI*:. 


11 1't. ^ 


11.1'. \ 



, QUESTIONS. 

Jli: ^rrclt^a'^^^Naples when Jo.ph Bonapurt. r.n.o..d 

1 104 How S;?'did the war of Au.lria la,t, wl.ich commenced in 1809 ? 

11^.; , what couditiou was Au.-tria able to ol^taa. ptace . 

11^6. VNUeu di.l Bonaparte'* secoud niarr.a-'- take place . 

1127 When was the war renewed with Ku'sia . . . ^^ , 

\v'{ With how larje an army did Uonaparle .nvadc Ru.sia, in 181? 

1129. What waa the success of this expedition r 

1130 With wh:il force did he comnunce hoalilitie* in IHU 

llbl'. n Uat b;itlle con.ph tely discomfiUd the French rmjieror r 

lit,'. When did the allies pass the lUiiu> 

lU:^,. When did they reach Paris ? 

1134. On what condition* was Bonaparte permitted to abdicate the t reuch 

throne ? 

1135. Wheudid the Bourbons returu to Taris? 



SECTION XIX 

1136. From what cause had Poland sufft rcl mnch ' 

1137. What chanjje did Charles Xll. make in th.- Mat.' of i'oland ? 

1138. By the aiil of whose p.nver was the family "f An^rtftm k« pt upon 

the throne of Poland during the fu^l half of lh« ci^U-valh c«i»- 
tury ? 

1139. Who snrceedefi \ii»ustus III. and wh« n ? 

1110. What internal di-simtc greatly di.-tr;ict«d PrtlwnH a» thi» time ' 

1141. With whom did th( plan of disnirtii^rr' ' ' mati- ' 

1142. What reasons were »iven by the par!. lor the dit- 

memberment of Poland ? 

1 143. Did the Poh s willin;jly nrqiiir«ce in the mrarure ' 

1144. When wa? the division actually a^etd upon and tanctionrd • «* ''■•■ 

Polish diet? 

1145. When did a second partition t.ake plarr, :>:p1 vJh n ;, third ' 

1146. What became of Stanislaus, the last ki 

1147. When and by whom was the kingdom >'■ 

1 KC. What is the present political cooditiou of tl ' 

SECTION X.\ 

1149. When wer> h'isliiii us renewed l> '. ' ' 

1150. What caused .Spain also to be in. 

1151. How did the Fnjflish riolat"' the ..;.• - -i .1 •■• ■ n. r. ,• .r.i i.. -p.iM. 

What splendid ^itnry did the P'.ngli'h obtain over the Jrtn 
and Spanirh. in IKO.i > 
1 15C>. Of what act of injustice w.-rr the Enjlisli judged giuhy lowwdi Ihe 
Danes .' 

1153. What caused the royal family of FrJince to lake refurc in F-orla* ' 

in 1807? * * 

1154. What were the English ordin in towuU inued in January and > 

vember, l;iu7? 

W^l' Ayi"" ^■'^^^'"^ l'""^e of Wales appointed regent of Great Brilait. 

Il;)6. \Nhy WHS he apj;ointedr 

1157. What^distinguislad persona-e was assassinated in the moulbof .M..- 

!IS' ly'^'^V"^^'*"'^'"" Pvenl took place in England in ^T.v |f:|«> 

1159. By what melancholy cvenl was it »ucc«d ..»H:r of the 

loilowin» year ? 

1160. \Nhen did George III. die? 



QUESTIONS. 3* 

SLCTIUN XXI. 

I. How dill the French arm) fi-cl toward the cmp«ror Napoleon, after 
he wa.« »*xikd .' 
1 163. When did Bonaparte land in France, oo his retaru from Elba .' 
1163. \N>ii II did he enter I'arisf 
1 1G4. ^\ hin w-a» ihi- battle of Watt rloo fought, vrhich for ever termio&t- 

1 165. V . • at St. Hri(>na, to which he was banished * 

1 lt^*i \^ A i> adopted by the ullic-d militanr commanders in 

ijrks of art, which the French had collected in 

1 167. \N 'ion did the allies adopt to prevent future revolutions 

I iilrjr i 

FECTION XXII. 

1168. \\\ " rce immediate successors of Fctcr 1. u{>ou the 

1169. II I uh of her father did the princcu Clixabeth 

1170. li . and who succecdrd her .' ^ , 
H71. \\ 111.' 

1 172. N\ . I of Catharine II. his widow, who succeed- 

.J 

1 173. W'hm did Alexander, the present emperor of Rutsta, come to the 

(■ 

1174. V I • of bis preilcccssor ? 

inf.. H !■- - .- .. I .- , v: i„o,> 

ll7»i. II 

1177. \N '»'R ^^'■' kinifdom to thr fiFft 

n : 
I |7n. N^ i r. in Swtdpn in the rrigu of Frwlcritk ? 
IITU. Mow 1. III. ni;n»' 
mm. Mow <* ■ H..mh ' 
llBl. \\ < 'if Uiroiie ' 
II»-2. V I. ? 
' • : <• liir iiH 

rti;;iicd in Denmark since the close of the 

ivar was Cbrisliao VII. connected with Gcorje III. of Kng- 

loeen, Carolint Matilda, retire to, and end her days 

. W ho Ik i]t< present kinf^ of Denmark ? 

SECTION XX'If. 
In wh»t d5»p«!t»«« was Swit»« rlau<l involved daring the first pari of 
thi 1 v.> ,. . , 

>. Which • of Rome suppressed the order of Jesuits f 

I iH). ^\"■ " 1 chair in 1775? 

llOj. .A' rr did he die? 

lH*-2. 11 . • u II j> 

119.1. Wli.n V -n, and by what nam* i« hi- ralkd ? 

im! NMi. n ' i.ng the ra'tholii rtlijioM in France? 

.. What injury did he aiiirwards receive from France? 

SECTION XXIV. 

I lf>6. Who w«* the reipuing jtuicc of India in the btgiouing of the 18lb 
century ? 



QUESTIONS. 

1 197. To what a?e did he live ? ^ .. , 

11VW. 1.1 what mai.ntr did he com.' to the throne. 

lli)9. What siujr-ib.- fart is menlio,..d as •• . : u,. ..MUcni...:., 

common! lor tho thro...-, with that .t-n^ p-^rlf ? 

1200. What chartered privilege has the Luj. .. i • i iud.a Company 

with this peo,.lf ? ^ 

T201. When dill the Company rt-reive thi- - rn ,1c -r ^ 
120-2. WliHt dt-crii'tion o( thif people I* v« . . , .. , 

I'dJ Who is rrsrarded as Ihe founder ot ; ■ n.p.rc in Inriia . 

1:204. When did the British parliament make provuion to prci-ent abuiei 

ol power in India.' 
1205. What distinguished individuals were instrumental in the firtt re 

forms iMider the new «y-teni? , . ,u ■ 

1-200. What is the reason why this system was not scrupulously adheff i 

to? 
1207. What was the ohject of Tip^oo in rf?ard to the Fnjli»h . 
1'20P.. For what ..Ijuct wa-i tht K.t.-: !u<iia (\>lUge esUblitbed ? 
1209. What is titp poptilatiou of British Indi.i? 



STATE OF ARTS, SCIENC TS, RF.UGION, LAWS, COVERX- 
MLNT, &c. 

1210. Wh:it countries have been particularly distin^islied in literator 

arts, and science, in the Iftth century ? 

1211. Which of the sciencs in particular have been nuich cultivated and 

advanced in that time? 

1212. In what particulars ha« chemistry undergone iai|K>rtant cbangrt 1 

the latter part of tlu l»tli century ' 

121f^. Who claim to lu the authors of tht- n. w th. - -' ' •— ' 

1-214. What is now ascertained to be the nature ol 

1215. Hy w'lonj was the discovery of vdal air, or ox .^ .. ^ ^■.■- 

1216. To what branch of chemistry is the discovery oJ the dicompo*iti<<ii 

of water owinsf ? 

1217. Who discovered llic consLituout parts or principles of water? 
12in. What arc they called ? 

1219. Who are so'ue uf the most distina;uished cbemiitj of the 18th ctr 
lury ? 

BOTANY. 
1 ?"0. Wh'^'-r r^nd when was TJnnaus bom ? 
1221. ^Viutl is the foundiilioa of his systematic botany? 
V222. With how many species of plants are botanittt now »aid to be a«*- 
qiiaintcd .' 

1223. Win' Vnurh botanist has done much for the b<>nefit of the science ? 

1224. What is the difference between the system of Linuaus and that oi 

Jussieu? 

EIXCTUICITY. 

122.'j. Who were =omp of the persons who first wrote learnedly on the 
subjtct of tkc'iririty ? 

1226. Who proved that the electric fluid and lixhtninj: are the »ame 
thing? " '' 

12-27. To V hat practical pi.rposf? did he api ly this ? 

1228. 01 whom A\..s Galvanism the discovery ? 

^~~^- ^^ hat is Galvanism call*-d ? 

1230. What Enjlish philosopher has become mnch celebrated for hit elec- 
tro-chemical rtatarches ' 



iT'ESTIONS 



\ 



>nNERALOGY AND GEOLOGY 

i;oi. Wlitu'liti tiif niodfTij sc itntific arrangements of minerals begin to 

occuj>y the attention of naturalists ? 
I ' {.'. ^NTio h:t3 th»- crcilit of reduciiif the science into classes and orders ? 
. F'rom what did geology arise f 
. What is jeolo^y i 

(;i:u(iRArnY. 

1235. What two new quarters of the world have been presented to us, m 
»h<- !:»•( r^iit'iry, -^T>rdin:^ to the French jcograiiheri ? 



I..;.. >Mi.' 1 "K i:.n< lu jcjI, iu i vi.iincr oi iii<- improvement* in rivili- 
zation ? 

1239. Wb • . iMi. . >,t In, <,,.,. tr .v-llcr baa contributed to the perfirtion 

1240. Kr.' : lUisiian sovereig^na made laudable ef- 

forii li'i'iii.iiii fcorrvt-l grujjr^phiral information ' 

1241. Has thf ^'■i<'!r»' of a^'roii^my mi itrjone as ^rt At chants as the 

' la*l century? 

l«4i. H. • ;tred iu that time' 

124J. \\b;ti 1 I' ' i' M If ii ir.iii >Mii. II \%. call form some conjftturc oi ihe 
number of fixed st;u's f 



1^14. What French writer ilil muih to unsettle the minds of his countrj- 

m<"' ou ri'li(pou and |><>litir« ? 
1245. Front whom has it been ■up|K>s«d that Voltaire imbibed his dcistical 

si-nli>...'nls f 
1?4«. Who were th^ prinripal driMiml writers of England ? 
"' f th< ir writings? 

•pher visited lln^land, besides 

124f>. To what did his rit w? ' 

»-'.»•, What were th- , .:. , iKou««»:ia' 

What was the onj^iti ol the hrmt h tlo* y< l»pedia ? 
:. What ( ourts of Europe were thrown o|>en to the French philoso- 
I phers ? 

' 1953. Ii it to he supposed that the French philosophers, to whom the rer- 
olution ha* l>een imputed, contemplated the awful catastrophe 
of that rvtnt ? 
; . Who was ( hieily iustrumentnl in introducing the improTcmcuts of 
the I nth century into Russia ^ 

I UKSroVrRIE.S AND INVENTIONS 

'< 1255. Whnt are the principal discori-ries and inventions of mo<lern times ? 
125ti. W I) kt < (Ttct had the French revolution on the people of other coun- 
; trie,' 

! 1257. What moral improvi ments have taken place in the condition ofva- 
' rious civilized nations .' 

RELIGION. 

In what countries does pa^msm prevail ? 
'. NVluit I* the present condition of the Jews? 
>. Where does Mahometani!«m prevail .* 
1 . What are the principal sects of the Christian religion ? 
l«o*. What !ccl3 bare beta most active as missionaries ' 



QT'ESTlONe' 

der consideration. 

art? ? 

1265. ^Vho iu France ? 

1266. Who iu Great Uritain? 

1267. Who in Italy ? 

TREATY OF VIFNNA, I"l.% 

1268. W-hat addition of ttrritury wiu git^u to Ru«u, WkI wh*l M« b- 

tle to the Czar? ^ 

1269. What is to be the condition of I rafow . 

1270. How did this treaty u'Tect Sdxouj 

1271. How did it affect I'ru-iMa? 

1272. What change took place iu the .\etijtnAi.oi - 



PART roruTH. 



IMTKU JsTATKH 

SECTION I 

1273. When and by whom «:»• Am. :!■ i !i-i..r«Trd ' 

1274. Under who;i jatroua; I 

1275. What p/.rt <.l it was .1, 

1276. Why were the i?l;uul- :«d tiic We»l Imditt ' 

1277. Why was the contiin. 

127b. How long time aOf r (. oliij >.• 

reached St. i^u'.vaib^r ? 

1279. To what govi-rnmcnlj did he iy]''} i> r j »iiui...£r wuaoi^i i.n »»• ' 

SKCTmN II 

1280. By whom and when was thecoutiuent of Sonh \m»nkm d*«<-or«r 

ed? 

1281. On what account did Virginia di-rivc it* !>«»« f 

1282. Who made the first attempt to cnlooixi* thi* j 

1283. To whom did Sir Walter Raleigh tftcrw... j 

the country ? 
ISW. From what did James river take its ahtnc* 

1285. On what account did capt. John Smith obt»in hU fint r- . • ni 

the Indians.^ 

1286. Who effected his second release from th«u ' 

' ^'firTt'clS'"* ''''* ^^' "It'vatian of the .0.1 Drf{e«t«d by Ih^ 
Vm. Whatsis thThistory of PocahontM subsequent to .«.og the h^e 

ssj^?iprv;«--r;;»^j:tc.::r 

1^91. ^^hat was the populaUou of Virguua, m 16«C ' 



iii. 

■ h colony ? 

■ '<t frit rnntift * 

. iu the jftar ie3»> ' 
'he Lni »<uiiui<.ul i>l KlicUt I*lao<) and Pn>vidciMi 

t m^.'hnof llftrUbrd, Spriiif6cld, and Weathcr»- 

• » N>«-Hiiif)iMhir« flr»t Mttird ? 
warfrf* coatmructf brtwtm the Eojliah * 

)i •ahj«>ctt h«d M tiled io New-fji^laud^ up 

'•lok pl»c« in Ma«*achu»ett», 

witchcr&lt 

'•)r whoa mM it 



I •■ tr T . 4ii'i <i< rivi II • 



' waj r. tanrlvar.!:* •*ul. tJ » 
M ta«a mod by wbwa ««• iswmgm wUit ! 



h' i"N IV. 
laiO. \Mi«t »^»t!''Tn»-t. till • II \,,.r.. .' 

1^1 > l*> " :li»h within 

!<»pt to top* 

ii; >■;■.■< K »<ui orer to lup- 

v|<«a«v aod ilintp- 

» '^i in the captnrc of 
•M Ih^ f*il> «n l>i fnmi*li In 1h* fVi nrh war ' 

..j.f.,. .• 



■ n ITtn 



(^, 1TJ3, in iknton, to tli« Brtti«h f0Ttm> 

lrr<mwhirC in Hntton, at (Ma tiin*^ 
<• r l';74, huMvii ill I'hiladrlphia ' 
■ titm waf »|iilt :h< (ir«t ll>>^ of 

'larlritowo ' 



^jj QrF.>Tln\> 

1333. Who headed an (xi-!i'i. <■ t'CaiuJa' 

1334. WithTvhrtt :^ik<.-- >v:.- ' ■ ' 

1335. By whom was gentral ( »«?a • 

1336. When did thu Briti-.!i ex '" , , 

1337. AVhea was publi.'h.d the ,'• ■ i.r-i.M. o( .•lin.ri. ■ j-.. ., c 

1338. ^Ml.lt tended much !o raise the dttpoodui; hopr. of America ia 
^- the latter part ol" 177'; ? _^ ^ 

1339. What fplindid advaiit.i-<» did th. ■* > 
"THD". VVheii was a treaty ol ailMiict !.■. ' ■'■ocii kad 

Americans? 

1341. Who took the command of the EnglUb »nnjr od Ihe rrtuni of f«n- 

eral Howf ? 
1.342. ^^hy was general I^e tu§p«nded? 
1343.- What took plac on the IMh July, 1719* 

1344. When , and under what circum»i»i.ce» wa* count Potuki MorUllj 

wounded .' 

1345. What pr v'nltd West Point from ^liog into the p<HM>«ua« of Um 

Lugli.-h ? 

1346. What di.ti ,i.i«h<d K^. nch military »nd narai rooimaiMlm wrre 

sent to Jii- aid t>t .Ainrfica * 
1347.^ What event t» reel., i.ed to have dtcidrd the cootrU brlVMS Eof> 

land and Amer.ca? 
1348. How uiuch moni y (iid Fn>lnnd rx|Mrud, and bow masj Urm did 

she sacrilict in thi> Wtir i 

SECTION V 

i:(40. ^Vhen did tht ronvinlion 

1350. When ami where did lh« 

tution : 

1351. \^hrtt produced an insurrectioD in the wrttrm pttrt of Pcaaajira- 

Ilia r 
1362. What wa* the Mate of aff . the L'nitod Stale* and TnmC9^ 

during the r. \ lufi,.ii ; 
1353. When di-l co. _■ 
1334. W hat ar. tht , 

1355. When and fur \wv, muuh v. aj i^uu*^-^ i^atvi*.***;*! .' 

8ECTI6N VI 

1356. What were the particular! that led to the lotpvottno of eoauaoder* 

Barron ? 

1357. What led to the declaration of war on Ihe IR«h of Jane, lltf, b»> 

twetn the United >•».'.. . i »;.. . i--:^m' 

1358. What were some :,„ oo bu»d, whirb Um 

Americans experi- 

ISfl" u l!''! **'^*^:'' P^-'-I'^** »«"' .nt raccMTt ott land ■ 

IJbd. What naval virtorus di.l thr v 

1361. What naval lo««e? di.l H.. , 

1362. What Aineric:u] ntlicers « . ti,^ _-, > 

1363. What British oliK.. ^ U.e wa, . 

1364. When an«t where w . , 

1365. Who were the com..., , , . ^ 

'f • "trr.'-.Sc't-.t;"'"'"' '^'•''" " •«'»• ^" ^ 



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